Anthropic has accused Chinese technology giant Alibaba of conducting a large-scale campaign to extract capabilities from its Claude artificial intelligence models, alleging that operators linked to the company used thousands of fraudulent accounts to gain access to its systems.
The allegations emerged as governments around the world continue to tighten controls on advanced technologies amid geopolitical tensions. Advanced computing, semiconductors and artificial intelligence have become central issues in the broader competition between Washington and Beijing, prompting increased scrutiny of how companies access and develop cutting-edge technologies.
In a June 10 letter sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Anthropic alleged that Alibaba carried out what it described as "the largest known distillation attack on Anthropic to date." The letter was addressed to committee chairman Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., according to reporting by CNBC.
Anthropic said operators affiliated with Alibaba and its AI research division conducted approximately 28.8 million interactions with its models between April 22 and June 5 using roughly 25,000 fraudulent accounts. The company described the activity as an effort to extract information from its systems through a process known as distillation, a technique in which outputs from a more advanced model are used to train a smaller model.
"We believe combating the threat of illicit distillation requires coordinated action between government and industry," an Anthropic spokesperson said in a statement cited by CNBC. The company added that it would continue working with policymakers to protect what it described as American leadership in artificial intelligence.
The allegations also follow Anthropic's earlier claims involving other Chinese AI developers. In February, the company said it had identified what it described as industrial-scale distillation campaigns involving DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and MiniMax. Anthropic stated at the time that such efforts had become increasingly sophisticated and called for greater cooperation among technology companies, cloud providers and policymakers.
The issue has emerged as policymakers in Washington seek to limit the transfer of advanced technologies to China. The United States has expanded export restrictions on advanced semiconductors and AI-related technologies in recent years, citing national security concerns.
Anthropic has also recently faced its own regulatory challenges. Earlier this month, the company disclosed that it had received an export-control directive from the Trump administration requiring it to suspend access to its latest Claude models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for foreign nationals. Anthropic said the government cited national security authorities but did not specify the underlying concern. The company later sent senior executives to Washington for discussions with administration officials.
