FTC opens investigation into AI book destruction in 2026?

This market will resolve to "Yes" if the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) publicly announces or confirms that it has opened an investigation, issued orders under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, or filed an enforcement action concerning the acquisition, scanning, or destruction of print books by AI companies for use in training AI models (the "book destruction practice"), between market creation and December 31, 2026, 11:59 PM ET. Otherwise, this market will resolve to "No". On August 21, 2026, a coalition of 18 civil society groups, including Demand Progress Education Fund, the Consumer Federation of America, and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, asked the FTC to investigate whether the bulk purchase, destructive scanning, and disposal of print books by AI companies (the practice described in the copyright litigation Bartz v. Anthropic) constitutes an unfair method of competition under Section 5 of the FTC Act, including through the FTC's Section 6(b) study authority. An AI company means any company that develops, trains, or operates AI models, and includes a contractor or vendor that acquires, scans, or disposes of print books on such a company's behalf. … (condensed)