Anthropic Accuses Chinese AI Firms of Illegally Extracting Claude Model Capabilities
New Delhi, March 25, 2026 – US-based artificial intelligence firm Anthropic has accused three Chinese AI startups — DeepSeek, MiniMax, and Moonshot AI — of illegally extracting capabilities from its Claude model to enhance their own systems, according to a report by CNN Business.The company alleged that the firms used a technique known as “distillation”, raising national security concerns. This process reportedly involved creating around 24,000 fake accounts and generating more than 16 million interactions with Anthropic’s Claude model to train competing AI systems.
Anthropic warned that such models may lack critical safety safeguards, increasing the risk of misuse in areas such as cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and even biological threats.
The report noted that DeepSeek’s rapid rise in China, alongside peers dubbed “AI tigers,” has sparked concerns that US export controls may be insufficient. All three companies are currently ranked among the top 15 models on the Artificial Analysis leaderboard.
However, Anthropic argued that such distillation attempts actually demonstrate the effectiveness of export controls, as sustained development of advanced AI systems still depends on access to high-end semiconductor chips.
Similar allegations have previously been made by OpenAI, which accused DeepSeek of “free-riding” on capabilities developed by US AI labs.
Anthropic also clarified that its recent designation as a “Supply Chain Risk (SCR)” by the US government applies only to the use of its Claude models in specific defense-related contracts, and not to all commercial users.
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