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Unusual Bulk Orders for Secondhand Books Linked to AI Growth

Latest Tanzania business news · Unusual Bulk Orders for Secondhand Books Linked to AI G… explained · updated Aug 17, 2026 · business news · companies · investment

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TLDR

  • Independent booksellers have reported a surge in unusual bulk orders for secondhand books, with some orders equaling a week's worth of sales in a single transaction.
  • Stuart Manley from Barter Books noted a recent bulk order from a Canadian company that matched his typical weekly sales of two to three thousand books.
  • Booksellers suspect that these bulk purchases are linked to the growing demand from AI companies rather than traditional readers.
  • A US court ruling in 2025 determined that using purchased books to train AI software does not violate copyright law, which has contributed to the increase in secondhand book sales.
  • The ruling was part of a lawsuit against AI firm Anthropic, which revealed that books were being destroyed during the training of their AI chatbot, Claude.

Latest news excerpts & sources: Unusual Bulk Orders for Secondhand Books Linked to AI G…

dailynews.co.tzRead more

In a typical week, Stuart Manley, from Barter Books, in Northumberland, would sell two or three thousand books. But one recent single bulk order from a Canadian company equalled what he would expect to move in seven days.

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