Operation VGT3
On an eerily quiet, moonlit night on the outskirts of Las Vegas, a delivery truck backed slowly toward a loading dock. The shipment, part of Operation VGT3, had crossed several states carrying an anonymous order for 1,000 rare and obscure books. It had now arrived at a high-security Amazon facility.
Nothing about the delivery appeared threatening. Yet the event embodied a much larger concern and one that deserves our attention. The books were reportedly destined to be cut apart, scanned, and destroyed so their contents could be used to train artificial intelligence models.
AI as a Two-Edged Tool
I do not believe the advent of AI is the worst development in human history. It can offer enormous benefits. But, like many powerful tools, it can become disastrous when left unchecked. Much of modern life contains this same tension: what helps us can also harm us.
Insulin is one striking example. Used properly, it saves lives by lowering blood glucose when the body produces too little insulin or cannot use it effectively. Taken in excess, repeated accidentally, or administered at an incorrect dose, the same life-saving treatment can become deadly.
An automobile presents the same paradox. It allows us to travel great distances in a fraction of the time once required, yet careless or irresponsible driving can take our lives, and the lives of others. Life is full of such two-edged tools.
Why the Book Shipment Matters
Why, then, should a truck unloading rare books in Las Vegas inspire such concern? For me, it belongs to a far larger story: the possibility that we are moving down a slippery slope toward a form of superintelligence we do not fully understand and may be unable to control. When something becomes smarter, faster, and more powerful than its maker, the outcome may not favor the maker. In nature, we have long described this dynamic as “the survival of the fittest.”
According to an undercover investigation by 404 Media and an independent bookseller, the facility systematically removed book bindings, scanned the pages for digital ingestion, and destroyed the physical originals. The campaign reportedly targeted pre-2022 literature because it is generally free of AI-generated content. As large buyers acquire these works for scanning and destruction, independent booksellers have watched their inventories disappear.
The Questions We Must Confront
As this practice accelerates, we must confront difficult questions:
- What happens when the creative output of human consciousness is absorbed into systems capable of storing, reorganizing, and acting on nearly everything we have brought into existence?
- Are we building a tool or creating a thief that can appropriate our collective knowledge and use it against us?
- Who will control these systems, and who will decide what information reaches the public?
Some influential thinkers, including people closely involved in the development of AI, believe these risks are real. Their warnings deserve serious attention.
Knowledge, Secrecy, and Control
Throughout history, control over knowledge and information has often marked the boundary between those who govern and those who serve. The origin of the word secret is revealing: the Latin secretus, from secernere, means “to separate, set apart, or divide.” At its root, a secret is knowledge removed from general access.
That history makes the prospect of knowledge being sealed inside data centers controlled by a small number of people deeply unsettling. We have been traveling this guided road for some time, but the scale has changed. Information can now be organized, amplified, and weaponized with unprecedented speed, shaping attention, perception, and behavior.
A Call for Vigilance
I intend to explore this subject further. In my view as an astrologer, it also aligns with the recent movement of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto into new zodiacal signs, particularly Uranus into Gemini. AI may have a higher expression, one through which human consciousness, perhaps in collaboration with larger celestial forces, creates something of genuine benefit. But we must not ignore its darker potential. If we fail to pay attention, the consequences could be devastating.