Authors Guild Slams Amazon’s ‘Ask This Book’ Feature

The Authors Guild has raised significant concerns with Amazon’s new ‘Ask This Book’ feature, launched on December 11, 2025, on certain Kindle devices and the Kindle iOS app. The feature is the newest addition to Amazon’s suite of AI programs designed for its e-readers and is slated for a wider rollout in 2026.

The ‘Ask This Book’ feature allows readers to query AI chatbots about titles they have purchased or borrowed, both by highlighting text within books or by directly entering questions into a dedicated chat. The AI-generated answers are pulled from the books themselves and, per the Authors Guild, are prone to errors and spoilers. As of this writing, authors and publishers are unable to opt out of the feature.

Last month, the Guild reached out to Amazon, who through a spokesperson reported that the feature only “uses content from the book as a prompt which is not retained or used to train the underlying AI model.” The spokesperson further explained that Amazon considers the feature to be a “natural language expansion of the search functionality that already exists in Kindle apps and for which no license is required.”

“Readers have been asking these questions through internet searches for years and that this feature is more native, spoiler-free, and helps customers keep reading as opposed to coming out of the book, which is the case today with all other ways to answer questions about the book you’re reading,” the Amazon spokesperson continued.

The Authors Guild is currently investigating whether ‘Ask This Book’ might infringe on authors’ and publishers’ rights. The organization has also expressed concerns over the feature turning books into “searchable, interactive products akin to enhanced ebooks or annotated editions—a new format for which rights should be specifically negotiated—and, given Amazon’s stronghold on ebook retail, it could usurp the burgeoning licensing market for interactive AI-enabled ebooks and audiobooks.”