Japanese Firm Confirms Book Sale to Anthropic
Tokyo, Oct. 7 (Jiji Press)--Nippan Group Holdings Inc., a Japanese book wholesaler, has confirmed that it had sold books to U.S. artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. In a letter addressed to the Japan Book Publishers Association, an industry group, Nippan Group said that Nippan IPS Co., a subsidiary that sells Japanese books overseas, conclu...
Tokyo, October 7 - Japanese book wholesaler Nippan Group Holdings Inc. has confirmed it sold books to U.S. AI firm Anthropic, according to people familiar with the matter. In a letter to the Japan Book Publishers Association, Nippan Group revealed that its subsidiary, Nippan IPS Co., struck a deal with Anthropic in November 2024.
The subsidiary sold books to Anthropic from December of that year until last December, as stated in the letter. Before finalizing the deal, Nippan IPS inquired about the purpose of the book purchases, but the group later found out the books were for AI learning, the letter added. Nippan Group did not disclose the exact number of books sold or the total purchase amount.
The Japan Book Publishers Association shared the letter with approximately 380 member publishers. Anthropic's internal document, revealed in a U.S. lawsuit, confirmed the company's involvement in Project Panama, aimed at scanning books worldwide, which included a deal with Nippan Japan.
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