Training data is the raw material of the AI industry. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and the rest are built on top of oceans of stuff. What is that stuff? Books. Blog posts. YouTube videos. Reddit comments. All of it and more, in virtually incomprehensible quantities. Alex Reisner, a staff writer at The Atlantic who has been investigating training data, explains how AI companies get all this data, why they'd really prefer you not know what's in it, and whether training data could ever be a fair trade.

Further reading:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/952162/apple-price-increase-ram-shortage">Apple raises prices on Macs, iPads, and more by hundreds of dollars | The Verge⁠</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/streaming/956712/disney-youtube-tv-directv-streaming-settlement">⁠Disney agrees to pay $50 million to YouTube TV and DirecTV subscribers | The Verge⁠</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/956661/two-handlebars-are-better-than-one-right">Two handlebars are better than one, right? | The Verge⁠</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/09/youtube-ai-training-data-sets/684116/">At Least 15 Million YouTube Videos Have Been Snatched by AI Companies⁠⁠</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/hypocrisy-ai-industry/686477/">⁠⁠The Hypocrisy at the Heart of the AI Industry ⁠⁠</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/06/ai-music-generators-suno-google-udio/687485/">⁠⁠The Millions of Songs Mashed Into AI-Generated Music⁠⁠</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/11/common-crawl-ai-training-data/684567/">⁠⁠Common Crawl Is Doing the AI Industry’s Dirty Work⁠⁠</a></li>
</ul>
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