Chasing the Book Devourers

Amazon have been caught scanning and destroying a large shipment of rare books so they can train their AI models. 

In an investigation by 404 Media, a US bookseller suspected that an order they received for 1,000 books on Biblio, a marketplace where buyers can remain anonymous, was for an AI company. 

So to get to the bottom of the mystery, they agreed to place an Apple AirTag between the pages of one of the volumes. The tracking device traveled across multiple US states, eventually terminating at a high-security Amazon facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Inside this warehouse, a specialized unit code-named VGT3 systematically processes incoming books by slicing off their bindings, scanning the pages for digital intake, and destroying the physical originals. 

This aggressive scanning pipeline highlights the extreme lengths to which tech companies will go to secure high-quality training datasets, particularly pre-2022 literature that is completely free of AI-generated content. 

While independent booksellers watch their inventories get shredded, legal and ethical questions are mounting over the practice of turning physical, copy-protected books into digital training data before disposing of the evidence. 

Amazon defended the operation in a brief statement, claiming they purchase books through commercial channels to improve their products and services, but the revelation has ignited intense debate over the systematic destruction of physical human knowledge to fuel artificial systems.

Despite Amazon clearly trying to keep this practice under wraps, the logo for the part of the warehouse the book scanners work in, called VGT3, is so on the nose that it borders on farce: a T-Rex holding a book in its hand that it’s about to eat – which, we have to say, kind of looks AI-generated. 

Futurism's Frank Landymore reported on August 17, 2026 that the public only became aware of this AI industry practice in a lawsuit against Anthropic, which revealed that the Claude chatbot maker was using industrial equipment to cut the pages out of millions of books and scan them, before they were disposed of. 

More alarming was the upshot of that lawsuit, Bartz vs. Anthropic when Judge William Alsup in the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled on June 23, 2025 that this specific one-for-one digital conversion of legally purchased print books for internal AI training was "spectacularly transformative" and constituted fair use, as the digital copies were not shared or sold outside the company. 

Since then, book sellers have often suspected that their wares are being used, and then destroyed, to train AI models. In previous 404 reporting, one said that some of the giveaways were the size of the orders, the seemingly random selection of books, and that the books all had ISBNs. But they couldn’t prove this hunch because the orders are anonymous. 

As 404 notes, that the workers at the Amazon site are apparently scanning the ISBNs of all the books they process gives credence to a spooky theory by booksellers: that AI companies are trying to scan every printed book in the world by going through a list of all their serial numbers.

The bookseller 404 worked with sold books that are rare, meaning that there are few copies left in circulation. That can be for a myriad of reasons – they’re not necessarily first editions of old classics – but they’re still valuable. 

“There are different types of value”, the bookseller told 404. “There’s monetary value, obviously, but there are a lot of other types of value. There’s historical value, intellectual value, sentimental value. All sorts of things, and all of those the AI companies don’t care about. They just want the content as a bunch of words strung together”.

Halfway There! Permata Dalam Bicaramu Update

"Permata Dalam Bicaramu", the Malay version of "The Diamond in Your Speech", is progressing along nicely. 

According to Rohijas MD Sharif, seven chapters have already been completed. Seven more to go.

Translating a specialized guide on public speaking requires a masterful grasp of communication nuance. His dedicated effort ensures that the book's highly effective speech-crafting frameworks transition seamlessly and powerfully into the Malay language. 

At the ongoing 2026 London Squash Classic, Sivasangari Subramaniam defeated India's Anahat Singh in 17 minutes with scores of 11-4, 11-4 to reach the semifinals yesterday. 

The third seed had received a first-round bye and began her campaign directly in the second round (the round of 16), where she disposed of world No. 32, Egypt's Nardine Garas 11-5, 11-5 in another quick 17-minute match a day earlier. 

The Malaysian will next face Egypt's rising prodigy, Amina Orfi today. The latter is the second seed for the tournament and the reigning World Champion. 

This is the exact moment for Sivasangari to stake her claim. She has the lethal speed and tactical brilliance to take down anyone on the planet. 

While Amina presents a massive hurdle, Sivasangari has proven she can dismantle the Egyptian powerhouse before. If she brings the same ruthless intensity she used to crush her quarter-final opponent, a spot in the final is hers for the taking. 

This matchup is a highly anticipated clash between two of the world's top players. Of course, I am rooting for Sivasangari to win!

Two Events, One Day, 16 Books Sold!

Two Ahmad Fakhri events in Kuala Lumpur on Friday and I was involved in both.

First, TARUMT KL Toastmasters organized and hosted a mini-seminar titled "How to Write an Unforgettable Speech" at the Arena on the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology main campus in Jalan Genting Kelang, Setapak.

Of course, he focussed on our Diamond technique of speech crafting.

We even sold three sets of our books, "The Diamond in Your Speech" and "The Pearls of Your Speech" – not bad for a two-hour session, if you ask me. 

Second, MAPSA (Malaysian Association of Professional Secretaries and Administrators) arranged and ran a four-hour workshop "The Art of Speechcrafting Powered by Agentic AI" at Rumah MAPSA in Lorong Tempinis Kiri Satu, Lucky Garden, Bangsar.

This time, we managed to sell four sets as well as two additional Diamond books.

That brings us to a total haul of nine Diamond and seven Pearls books altogether.

Back on Track

July's book sales saw a slump and it was a bit of a scare, to be honest. But August really saved the day. 

We saw a more-than-decent rebound in numbers, and it’s a huge relief to see our momentum picking up again. 

Here is a breakdown of our todate sales:

Interestingly, I've just learned about Prince’s 1991 blockbuster music album "Diamonds and Pearls" shifted over 4.4 million copies. Comparing our two books to a record like that is certainly a humbling thought! 

Of course, the music and publishing industries are worlds apart – and while we are ambitious, we are also realistic.

Reaching major Malaysian retailers like MPHOnline, Kinokuniya Malaysia, and Gerakbudaya is a testament to the quality and relevance of our books. 

For us, our mission, as always, is to expand our readership base and deliver real value to readers! Wherever and whenever we can!

Translating the Diamond Book: Bringing a Bestseller to Malay Readers

Having sold over 1,600 copies of "The Diamond in Your Speech" (2022), we are thrilled to bring our best-selling public speaking book to Malay readers. 

This is a major step toward empowering local voices who may prefer learning and speaking in Bahasa Malaysia.

Brought to life through Rohijas MD Sharif's masterful translation, this book is set to make its highly anticipated debut this November.

Just to restate, the central methodology driving the book teaches speakers how to easily craft meaningful presentations with purposeful impact using the "Diamond" formula" and "Reverse Engineer Your Speech" techniques, making it a valuable resource for those interested in effective communication. 

Truth be told, this is a gem of a book!

A Toastmasters Homecoming

On Monday, I was at Menara Allianz Sentral, which is located in the heart of the KL Sentral business district on Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Kuala Lumpur, to attend my first meeting of the KL Advanced Toastmasters Club since I rejoined last month. 

It was a homecoming to a club I had been a member of, many, many years ago. 

Rohijas MD Sharif, being the VP Education and Toastmaster had kindly put me down as a speech evaluator for one of the two project speakers. [For those not familiar with the club's evaluation structure, it consists of three stages: the Lead Evaluation, where a designated evaluator shares feedback;   followed by the Open Evaluation, where other members briefly share their insights; and concludes with the Speaker's Right of Reply, where the speaker shares their takeaways and responds to the feedback].

He had also given me five minutes to promote my two public speaking books. [And I successfully finalized the sale of three titles, two TDIYS and one TPOYS]. 

I have to admit though that I was disappointed with my assigned speaker because she failed to meet the objectives of her speech which was about "Managing a Difficult Audience". I had wished she had delivered this speech with the solemnity it warrants. Messages of a serious nature should convey resolute authority and gravitas. And her irrepressible and ceaseless movements did not help at all. 

The above aside, it was really good to catch up with fellow senior members Rohijas and Philip Wong, who have been long-standing members of the club. 

Photos of the said meeting at Emspaced, a co-working space: