Anthropic Book Scanning Controversy Reignites as Musk Vows Preservation and Sacks Criticizes Double Standards

Reports link Anthropic to bulk book purchases for destructive scanning. Musk promises non-destructive methods for rare texts, while Sacks condemns Anthropic's contradictory IP stance.

Woofun AI reports that ISBNdb is reportedly bulk purchasing millions of books under confidentiality agreements, a move linked to Anthropic's previous "Panama" project involving spine removal and recycling. Elon Musk stated he has directed SpaceXAI to preserve rare books and adopt non-destructive scanning techniques. David Sacks criticized Anthropic for hypocrisy, noting the company advocates for open access to global works while restricting competitors from using Claude’s outputs, which he termed intellectual property theft.