Anthropic Cuts Claude Access for Chinese Entities

Anthropic has updated its regional usage policies to prohibit entities owned by China from using Claude, effective November 12. The new policy applies to Claude.ai, APIs, and cloud-distributed models, with access restricted for users in unsupported regions, companies registered there, or entities controlled by such regions, including China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Russia. The changes mark an escalation from previous measures that targeted companies located within China.

Anthropic updated its "Supported Regions Policy" on its official website, with the new version taking effect on November 12, applying to applications, APIs, and developer platforms such as Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cowork, as well as Claude models provided through cloud platforms and authorized distributors. The policy explicitly states that usage from unsupported regions includes individuals located in unsupported regions; entities registered or headquartered in unsupported regions; and entities that are directly or indirectly majority-owned or controlled by individuals or entities located in unsupported regions, along with their users or employees, regardless of their physical location.

Anthropic said it chose to target Chinese-controlled entities because companies subject to control from authoritarian regions like China face legal requirements that can compel them to share data, cooperate with intelligence services or take other actions that create national security risks. Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI models known for their coding capabilities, is not the first US AI start-up to restrict access from mainland China and Hong Kong. The move comes as Anthropic is expected to go public on November 19, 2026, adding another layer of strategic significance to the policy change.

The company clarified its "Supported Regions" page, listing countries where Claude is available, with rules prohibiting using Claude in countries not on the list such as Russia and China. Anthropic made several changes to its usage policy including consolidating existing rules barring state media, government propaganda offices, and commercial firms from using Claude to run networks of fake accounts and fabricated news sites, clarifying the section prohibiting the use of Claude to deceive voters or disrupt elections, and specifying that Claude cannot be used to build guidance and control software for weapons.