Alibaba to ban employees using Claude Code from July 10 as US-China AI rivalry escalates
Recently, US-based Anthropic is said to have covertly rolled out a Claude version with embedded spyware to track whether users are based in China or affiliated with Chinese companies.
Anthropic expands Claude with a new AI offering aimed at small businesses and workplace productivity.(Photo: AI-generated) Alibaba is expected to prohibit all its employees from using Claude Code, Anthropic’s popular AI programming tool, from July 10 onwards.
The Chinese tech giant has classified Claude Code as a high-risk software. Instead, Alibaba staffers have been instructed to use the company’s own AI coding tool, Qoder, according to multiple news reports.
Anthropic, on the other hand, has already banned Chinese companies and other foreign entities owned by those companies from using any of its AI models and tools. However, loopholes have reportedly allowed China-based users to still access Claude.
In an attempt to close these loopholes, Anthropic is said to have covertly rolled out a Claude version with embedded spyware to track users’ location and whether they are based in China or affiliated with Chinese companies, according to a report by The Information. However, the AI startup has reportedly backtracked these efforts recently.
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