Podcast: We Spoke to an Amazon Worker Destroying Books for AI
404 Media podcast covers Amazon destroying scanned books for AI training, recurring AI names in academic papers, and ICE voter-data spending.
404 Media's podcast follows up on its investigation of an Amazon warehouse where books are scanned and destroyed for AI training data, including an interview with a warehouse worker. The hosts also discuss how the same few names repeatedly surface in LLM outputs and AI-generated academic papers. The episode additionally covers ICE's plans to spend millions on voter fraud data and Boston Dynamics robot dogs.
- Amazon warehouse worker describes books being destroyed after scanning for AI training.
- Episode covers recurring 'ghost' names appearing in LLM-generated academic papers.
- ICE reportedly plans multimillion-dollar spending on voter fraud data and robot dogs.
Full article288 words · extracted from 404media.co · click to collapse
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Sep 2, 2026
at 8:47 AM
A follow up to the Amazon destroying books for AI story, why a bunch of names keep appearing in AI-generated papers, and ICE's latest spending spree.
Collage: 404 Media.
We start this week with Emanuel’s follow-up to his Amazon book scanning story, in which he spoke to someone who worked in the Amazon warehouse which destroys books to train Amazon’s AI products. After the break, Emanuel and Sam tell us about the same few names appearing in LLM output over and over again. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph tells us why ICE is buying loads of data about ‘voter fraud’.
Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or YouTube . Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism. If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player.
You're Invited: 404 Media's Third Anniversary Live Podcast and Party!
Inside the Warehouse Where Amazon Scans and Destroys Books for AI Training
The AI ‘Ghosts’ Contaminating Academic Publishing
ICE Plans to Spend Millions on Boston Dynamics Dog Robots
ICE Wants the Country’s Voter Data
About the author
Joseph is an award-winning investigative journalist focused on generating impact. His work has triggered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fines, shut down tech companies, and much more.
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://www.404media.co/podcast-we-spoke-to-an-amazon-worker-destroying-books-for-ai/