Japanese book wholesaler Nippan confirms it sold books to Anthropic

Nippan Group Holdings, a Japanese book wholesaler, has confirmed it sold books to artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, The Japan Times reported.

In a letter addressed to the Japan Book Publishers Association, Nippan Group said its subsidiary Nippan IPS — which sells Japanese books overseas — concluded a deal with Anthropic in November 2024 and sold books to the company between December 2024 and December 2025, according to the sources.

Before striking the deal, Nippan IPS had asked about the purpose of the book purchases, the letter said. But the unit was not aware that Anthropic’s purchases were for AI learning, according to the letter.

Nippan Group did not disclose how many books were sold or the total purchase amount, and said it planned to answer inquiries from publishers. The association shared the letter with some 380 member publishers.

The confirmation followed a Sept 17 association letter asking whether the books included member titles and questioning bulk overseas sales without permission, Kyodo reported via qazinform. An industry source called it “regrettable” if the company knowingly supplied books for AI training, amid concerns books had their spines cut and were destroyed for scanning.

An internal Anthropic document disclosed in a US lawsuit showed a deal with “Nippan Japan” under Project Panama, which aims to scan books worldwide, The Japan Times reported. Nikkei Asia said Japanese publishers were angered by the bulk purchases, reigniting debate over authors’ rights when works are used to train AI.