Report: 3 of the 5 Largest US Publishers Are Secretly Using AI

Three of the five largest publishers in the US market are reportedly using artificial intelligence without informing authors or readers. This information is based on anonymous statements from more than 24 employees working in the publishing industry. According to the claims, artificial intelligence is being used for various tasks, from preparing books to advertising them.

The companies use “ChatGPT” and “Claude” to write advertising materials and short promotional copy for book covers. AI image-generation tools are also reportedly used to create covers. Some authors only learn afterward that such tools were used in advertising and designing the appearance of their books.

These actions by publishers contradict their legal position. In May, the five major companies in question jointly filed a lawsuit against “Meta,” alleging copyright infringement. Used-book sellers suspect that AI companies are buying and destroying book inventories, including rare copies.

Although publishers’ profits have increased, people’s interest in books has declined. Students’ reading scores have fallen to their lowest level in 25 years. The habit of reading books for pleasure declined by an average of 3% each year between 2003 and 2023. In 2025, the share of American men who did not read books was 44%. Meanwhile, publishers’ revenue has risen by 16.1% since 2021.

Earlier this year, “Minotaur Books,” part of “Macmillan,” canceled a book deal worth approximately $2 million (approximately AZN 3.4 million). The deal for the manuscript titled “Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body” had been signed following a bidding contest involving 14 participants. Although concerns arose that the text may have been written using artificial intelligence, its quality was not the main issue. The question concerned copyright registration and the clear transfer of rights.

According to the claims, executives are testing artificial intelligence to expand translation work, create advertising materials, and monitor employee productivity. Some employees suspect that internal documents are also being written using these tools. One literary agent has begun obtaining publishers’ prior consent. Under the agreement, unpublished manuscripts must not be uploaded in full to large language models (LLMs)—artificial intelligence systems that process text—to create advertising copy. According to employees, executives are subscribing to artificial intelligence services and discussing which tasks to use them for.