U.S. AI startup Anthropic announced on September 5 that it is broadening its ban on Chinese entities to include subsidiary companies and overseas organizations, citing national security concerns. Under the updated terms, any firm with more than 50% ownership—directly or indirectly—by groups in restricted regions, including the Chinese mainland, Russia, the DPRK and Iran, can no longer access Anthropic’s commercial AI services, no matter where it operates.
Legal expert Nicholas Cook, who has spent 15 years advising tech firms in China, says this marks the first time a major U.S. AI company has imposed such a formal, public prohibition. “The immediate commercial effect may be modest,” Cook notes, “since U.S. providers already face barriers and local groups often opt for homegrown AI solutions.”
Despite this, an Anthropic executive told the Financial Times the restrictions could shave off “low hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue. Headquartered in San Francisco and valued at $183 billion, Anthropic is best known for its Claude chatbot. Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives, the company recently closed a $13 billion funding round and now serves over 300,000 business customers worldwide.
When asked about the announcement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said he wasn’t familiar with the details but stressed that “China opposes politicizing trade and sci-tech issues and using them as a weapon and a tool. Such practice does no one good.”
This move follows Anthropic’s landmark $1.5 billion settlement in a class-action lawsuit accusing it of pirating millions of books to train Claude—hailed as the largest copyright recovery in history and the first of its kind in the AI era.
As geopolitics and technology collide, Anthropic’s decision sets a new precedent in the AI industry. The broad scope of these restrictions highlights growing tensions over data security, international regulation and the future of global AI collaboration.
Reference(s):
U.S. AI startup Anthropic expands restrictions on Chinese entities
cgtn.com
