Anthropic bought Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese books for AI training

Korea JoongAng Daily investigative reporting using ImportKey/Panjiva shipping data shows Anthropic (via Better World Books) received ~165.69 metric tons (~414,000 books) of Korean-language books from wholesaler Woongjin Booxen across seven shipments, ~122+ metric tons of Japanese books from Nippan IPS across eight shipments, and ~563 metric tons from Taiwanese distributor United Distribution Co. across 16 shipments. Anthropic's Nov. 27, 2024 internal meeting documents (Exhibit 12 in *Bartz v. Anthropic*) reference supply agreements with Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese distributors, plus a reference to "simplified Chinese books coming from mainland China" routed indirectly via Taiwan.