Hi everyone,
I’m an Italian journalist investigating the increasingly strange story of large-scale purchases of used books and their possible connection to AI training.
I’m looking for people who may have direct knowledge of this supply chain: booksellers, warehouse workers, logistics employees, exporters/importers, former employees, people in publishing, recycling/remanufacturing, scanning or digitisation companies, or anyone who has seen unusually large orders of used books.
I’m particularly interested in Zoom Books.
The main question I’m trying to answer is very simple:
What happens to the books after Zoom Books acquires them?
Where are they physically shipped? Who receives them next? Are they resold, processed, scanned, digitised, dismantled, recycled or destroyed? Are there intermediaries between Zoom Books and the ultimate customer? And, most importantly, who is the final customer?
I’m also interested in information about shipments involving Canada, the US, Europe, China and India, including companies involved in processing or “remanufacturing” printed books.
I’m not looking for speculation presented as fact. Documents, invoices, shipping records, emails, photographs, warehouse information, first-hand accounts or even small details that can help reconstruct the route of the books are particularly useful.
If you work or have worked anywhere along this supply chain and would rather not comment publicly, please DM me. We can discuss confidentiality and source protection before you share anything sensitive.
Even if you only know one small part of the story, I’d like to hear from you.