Alibaba Bans Claude Code After Anthropic's Hidden Tracker Monitored Chinese Users
17 Sources
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Anthropic outed for Claude tracker that secretly monitored Chinese users
Anthropic quickly removed a tracker secretly monitoring Claude Code users in China after a security researcher exposed the hidden code and condemned the spyware-like tracking as a "serious breach of user trust." Last week, a web developer known as "Thereallo" was researching privacy issues in
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Alibaba reportedly bans employees from using Claude Code
China's Alibaba will ban employees from using Anthropic's programming tool Claude Code, starting on July 10, according to multiple reports. Anthropic already prohibits Chinese companies, as well as foreign entities owned by those companies, from using its models. The company has reportedly been
[3]
Alibaba bans Anthropic's Claude Code after an alleged hidden China-detection backdoor is uncovered -- employees told to switch to Qoder as the rift between the firms widens
Ban lands three weeks after Anthropic accused Alibaba's Qwen lab of running the largest known distillation attack on Claude. Chinese tech giant Alibaba has banned its employees from using Anthropic's Claude Code for all work purposes, effective July 10, after security researchers alleged the AI
[4]
China warns about AI risks with Anthropic's Claude Code
BEIJING -- China on Wednesday warned of "back-door" security risks affecting companies that use U.S.-based company Anthropic's Claude Code artificial intelligence tool. It comes as the U.S.-China tech race intensifies, with Anthropic last month blaming Chinese company Alibaba for attempting to
[5]
Why A.I. Distillation Has Become a Hot Topic in the Race with China
The American companies building artificial intelligence systems are loudly complaining that their Chinese competitors are unfairly copying their technology, and they are pleading with officials to do something about it. On June 10, Anthropic sent a letter to Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth
[6]
Alibaba bans Claude Code over hidden Chinese user tracking
Alibaba banned Claude Code after security researchers found Anthropic had embedded steganographic tracking code to identify Chinese users. The ban follows Anthropic's accusation that Alibaba ran the largest known distillation attack on its models. Alibaba has banned its employees from using Claude
[7]
The covert U.S.-China battle to make chatbots leak their secrets
In March, artificial intelligence company Anthropic quietly deployed software to spy on China-based customers of its popular coding chatbot Claude Code. The apparent goal: unmasking the Chinese rivals the company suspected of hijacking its technology to make their own AI tools
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Alibaba to ban Claude Code over alleged backdoor risk, source says
The workplace ban, starting July 10, lands weeks after Anthropic accused operators linked to Alibaba's Qwen lab of running the largest known distillation campaign against Claude. Alibaba will bar its employees from using Anthropic's Claude Code inside workplace environments from July 10, according
[9]
China warns of "security backdoor" in Anthropic AI coding tool
Beijing -- A Chinese industry regulator warned users on Wednesday of a "security backdoor" embedded in versions of U.S. artificial intelligence giant Anthropic's coding tool, Claude Code. The alleged backdoor could enable the software to "transmit sensitive information," including users' locations
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China issues 'backdoor' security alert over Anthropic's Claude Code
China's industry ministry identified a serious security backdoor risk in Anthropic's Claude Code. The National Vulnerability Database warned of unauthorised data transmission from affected versions. NVDB advised that organisations and users should immediately review affected systems and either
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Anthropic's Claude Code Just Set Off Alarms in China
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a warning about a security flaw tied to Anthropic's Claude Code, saying the tool includes a "back-door" weakness that could put users at risk. Claude Code is Anthropic's AI coding assistant aimed at helping developers automate software
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Alibaba Blocks Staff From Using Anthropic AI Amid Security Concerns | PYMNTS.com
The tech giant has placed Anthropic's Claude Code on a high-risk software list, CNBC reported Monday (July 6), citing sources familiar with the matter. As the report notes, Alibaba's decision follows allegations by Anthropic last month that the Chinese company had "brazenly" and "illicitly" tried
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Alibaba Reportedly Bans Anthropic's Claude for Employees, Citing Security Risks -- Directs Them to Use Qode
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) has decided to bar its employees from utilizing AI tools developed by Anthropic, citing potential security risks. The ban is set to come into effect on July 10. The Chinese tech giant has labeled Anthropic's Claude Code as high-risk software. Alibaba
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Alibaba's Anthropic ban could give it more control over China's AI market
Alibaba's reported ban on Anthropic's Claude Code looks, on the surface, like an IT decision at a company. It's probably bigger than that. A Chinese tech giant has warned staff not to use Anthropic's AI coding helper at work and has directed them toward its own coding platform, Qoder, Reuters
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Alibaba to ban Claude Code in workplace over alleged security risks, Reuters says By Investing.com
Investing.com -- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK:9988) will prohibit employees from using Anthropic's (NASDAQ:ANTP) Claude Code in its workplace environments from July 10 over concerns about potential security risks, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The
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China Says It Has Found Security Vulnerabilities in Anthropic's Claude Code
SINGAPORE--China said Wednesday that it has found "security backdoor vulnerabilities" in Anthropic's popular Claude Code, stepping up tensions in the race with the U.S. for artificial-intelligence supremacy. Several versions of the American coding tool, released between April and June, "can send
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Alibaba Set to Ban Staff From Using Claude Over Security Fears
China's Alibaba plans to ban employees from using Anthropic's Claude Code at work over concerns about potential security risks, according to people familiar with the matter. The move comes in the wake of a post on online forum Reddit earlier this week alleging that a version of the software
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Anthropic removed a secret tracker from Claude Code after a researcher exposed hidden code monitoring Chinese users. The discovery prompted Alibaba to ban the AI tool, classifying it as high-risk software. The incident escalates tensions in the US-China AI conflict as both companies accuse each other of security violations and model theft.
Anthropic Exposed for Secret Tracking Code in Claude Code
Anthropic quickly removed hidden code from Claude Code after a security researcher exposed a tracker that secretly monitored Chinese users. Last week, web developer "Thereallo" discovered the AI firm was using prompt steganography to hide detection logic "in plain sight"
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. The code wasn't malicious but sent information to Anthropic that most users wouldn't detect, using shorthand markers to flag users' timezone, proxy settings, and potential connections to Chinese AI labs.
Source: Benzinga
Anthropic engineer Thariq Shihipar confirmed the tracker was added as "an experiment" in March to prevent account abuse from unauthorized resellers and protect against distillation attacks
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. The Washington Post found unauthorized retailers have sold access to free models for $1 monthly, while pro subscriptions costing $100 are available for as little as $121
. According to Shihipar, engineers had "landed stronger mitigations since then" and were planning to remove the code.Hidden China-Detection Backdoor Triggers Privacy Concerns
The discovery method revealed sophisticated surveillance tactics. According to a Reddit post, obfuscated detection logic had shipped silently since version 2.1.91, released on April 2, with no mention in release notes
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. When a proxy was detected, the code checked whether the system timezone matched Asia/Shanghai or Asia/Urumqi and inspected proxy URLs against a hardcoded list of Chinese domains and AI lab identifiers, including Alibaba, Baidu, Ant Group, and ByteDance.What elevated concerns was the exfiltration method. Rather than sending an overt signal, the tool encoded findings steganographically, tweaking date formats and swapping punctuation characters in system prompts sent to Anthropic's servers—invisible to users but machine-parseable on Anthropic's end
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. Privacy advocates warned the code proves Anthropic is willing to cross lines to surveil users, especially surprising given the company sued the White House after refusing to let the US government use Claude to monitor American users1
.Alibaba Responds With Ban on Anthropic Tools
Alibaba moved swiftly to distance itself from security vulnerabilities. Last Friday, the Chinese tech giant banned employees from using Claude Code for work, effective July 10
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. According to a memo reviewed by South China Morning Post, Alibaba classified Claude Code as "high-risk software with security vulnerabilities" citing back-door risks3
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Source: PYMNTS
Employees have been instructed to adopt Qoder, Alibaba's in-house AI coding platform. Reports from Chinese outlets suggest the directive extends beyond Claude Code, with staff allegedly told to uninstall all Anthropic products, including Sonnet, Opus, and Fable model families
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. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a warning Wednesday about the autonomous coding tool sending sensitive user data including location and identity to remote servers without consent4
. The cybersecurity platform advised users to uninstall or upgrade from affected versions 2.1.91 to 2.1.196.Related Stories
US-China AI Conflict Intensifies Over Distillation Attacks
The ban arrives three weeks after Anthropic accused Alibaba's Qwen lab of running the largest known AI model distillation attack on Claude. On June 10, Anthropic sent a letter to Senate Banking Committee leaders claiming operators affiliated with Qwen used nearly 25,000 fraudulent accounts to generate 28.8 million exchanges with Claude between April 22 and June 5
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. This represented an industrial-scale attempt to distill Claude's software engineering and reasoning capabilities.
Source: NYT
Alibaba hasn't commented on accusations of account abuse and distillation attacks, but research supports widespread distillation practices. In February, Chinese researchers at Peking University and the state-funded Chinese Academy of Sciences found most Chinese models "showed substantial evidence of distillation," primarily of US models
1
. One Alibaba Qwen model would sometimes identify itself as Claude during intensive tests.Geopolitical Tensions Drive Calls for Legal Action
The incident highlights increasingly aggressive measures US firms are taking amid geopolitical tensions. In the past year, Chinese firms have "consistently matched" US capabilities within months
1
. A new free AI model from Zhipu AI recently outperformed Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 at finding computer vulnerabilities.Anthropic has joined OpenAI in urging the US to treat distillation as intellectual property theft. At a Senate hearing, Senator Tim Scott agreed legal intervention is needed through carefully crafted export restrictions
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. While distillation isn't illegal—leading US firms practice it too—using millions of unauthorized users violates corporate policy and terms of service5
. Legal experts note some scholars argue the practice violates the Defend Trade Secrets Act, though courts haven't explicitly ruled on this yet. For Alibaba, complying with the ban on Anthropic tools reduces legal and compliance risks, unlike individual unauthorized users who can easily circumvent location blockers without major repercussions.References
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