Massive Claude outage: Anthropic under fire amid geopolitical crisis
On June 18, Anthropic's Claude chatbot experienced a major technical failure. Thousands of users worldwide were unable to send messages or load the service. According to status aggregators, the peak of complaints occurred at 10:03 Moscow time, with the total number exceeding 770 within a day.
This is already the second major incident in a month. In early June, Claude showed instability affecting the web interface, mobile app, and the Claude Code platform. The current outage only exacerbates the already tense situation surrounding the company.
Geopolitical Background and Regulatory Pressure
The technical issues coincide with a series of events placing Anthropic under close scrutiny. This week, it was reported that JPMorgan Chase banned its employees in Hong Kong from accessing Claude models. This decision mirrors a move by Goldman Sachs, which excluded Claude from the list of approved tools for its bankers in the same region back in April.
Both decisions fit into the context of growing tensions between the US and China in the field of AI technology, data security, and access to advanced computing tools. The situation is exacerbated by a US export directive: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ordered Anthropic to suspend exports of the Mythos and Fable models to all foreign nationals, citing the risk of their use by the military intelligence of China, Russia, and other countries.
Against this backdrop, a G7 leaders' dinner took place on June 17 with the participation of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and a meeting of the EU cybersecurity agency ENISA with company representatives was scheduled for June 18. Notably, US President Donald Trump stated that negotiations with the company were proceeding "normally."
Restrained Reaction from Europe
Unlike Washington's tough stance, Europe is not yet inclined toward confrontation. G7 diplomats emphasize their readiness to jointly mitigate AI risks and turn the incident into a platform for cooperation rather than division. According to one European diplomat, the EU expected to reach unity on advanced models before the summit's end, with the main goal being to restore trust.
Significantly, the report on the bilateral meeting between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump did not mention the Anthropic issue at all. Brussels is acting cautiously also because no official notification of export controls has been received from US authorities—only a statement from Anthropic itself.
My analysis: The current Claude outage is not just a technical incident but a symptom of deeper problems. Anthropic has found itself at the epicenter of a geopolitical storm, where regulatory pressure and security demands intertwine with technological instability. If the company cannot quickly restore trust among both users and regulators, it could seriously undermine its position in the AI market. The market is closely watching developments—such incidents often become catalysts for revising investment strategies in the sector.