Starting July 10, Alibaba is completely banning its employees from using AI tools from Anthropic, including the popular Claude Code. The official reason is security risks, but behind this decision lies a deeper technological and geopolitical subtext.
The Chinese giant's decision came after the company's developers detected suspicious activity in Claude Code's operation. Analysis showed that the tool collects data on users' time zones and proxies, and according to some reports, injects hidden tags into requests sent to Anthropic's servers. For Alibaba, which is striving for full autonomy in the AI field, this was the last straw.
The conflict between the companies has been escalating in recent months. As early as June, Anthropic sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, accusing Alibaba of attempting to illegally extract the capabilities of its model — so-called "distillation." This is a process where the results of one model's work are used to train a competing AI at lower costs. Anthropic called this incident the largest attempt at distillation of its models, effectively equating it to industrial espionage.
Geopolitics amid the AI race
This incident is not an isolated case but part of a broader trend. Anthropic has repeatedly warned about the need to tighten export rules and actively combat distillation to maintain U.S. technological leadership at least until 2028. Alibaba, for its part, operates within the framework of China's national "Qinglang" policy, aimed at strengthening control over AI. As part of this campaign, over 14,000 AI products have been removed, more than 26,000 accounts blocked, and millions of web pages and files erased.
The transition to its own assistant, Qoder, is not just a replacement of one tool with another. It is a strategic move that deprives Anthropic of access to a massive Chinese technology platform, and Alibaba of access to one of the best Western programming tools. Both sides lose, but in the long term, this decision strengthens China's technological sovereignty.
Expert opinion: Watching this conflict, I see a clear trend: the AI world is finally splitting into two technological camps. For the crypto industry, which often relies on global development tools, this is a signal of growing regulatory and geopolitical risks. Investors should pay closer attention to which infrastructure solutions key players choose — this directly affects the long-term sustainability of projects.