U.S. artificial intelligence company Anthropic has accused Chinese technology giant Alibaba of conducting a large-scale effort to extract and replicate the capabilities of its flagship AI model, Claude, escalating tensions in the global race for artificial intelligence leadership.
According to a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic alleged that Alibaba and its artificial intelligence division carried out what it described as the "largest known distillation attack" against the company to date.
Model distillation refers to the process of training a smaller or less advanced artificial intelligence system using the outputs generated by a more powerful model. While distillation itself is a legitimate machine-learning technique, AI companies argue that unauthorized use of proprietary models to train competing systems constitutes intellectual property theft.
Anthropic claimed that Alibaba created nearly 25,000 fake accounts to gain access to Claude, generating approximately 29 million interactions with the AI system. The company alleged that these activities targeted some of Claude's most advanced capabilities, including agentic reasoning, software engineering, and long-horizon problem solving.
The letter, dated June 10, was addressed to U.S. Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren. Anthropic stated that such activities effectively transform billions of dollars in American research and development spending into an unintended subsidy for foreign competitors.
Claude is not officially available to users or organizations in China, making the alleged access particularly concerning for the company.
An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment specifically on the contents of the letter but said the company believes combating illicit AI distillation requires coordinated efforts between government and industry to protect American technological leadership.
Alibaba did not immediately respond to the allegations.
This is not the first time Anthropic has raised concerns about foreign AI companies attempting to extract knowledge from its models. Earlier this year, the company disclosed that it had identified multiple industrial-scale efforts by several AI laboratories to replicate Claude's capabilities.
The allegations also align with broader concerns within Washington. In April, the U.S. administration issued a memorandum warning that foreign entities, particularly organizations based in China, were conducting large-scale efforts to distill advanced American AI systems.
Anthropic's letter supports stronger measures to protect U.S. artificial intelligence leadership, including tighter export controls on advanced semiconductors and new legislation targeting companies found to be engaging in unauthorized AI distillation.
Despite the allegations, investor reaction appeared relatively muted. Alibaba shares declined 4.4% in Hong Kong trading, although the broader technology sector also experienced losses during the session.
Analysts suggested that markets may view the accusations as unlikely to produce immediate financial consequences. Previous allegations involving Chinese AI companies have had limited long-term effects on valuations or investor confidence.
Industry experts note that proving large-scale model distillation remains difficult. AI companies face significant challenges distinguishing between legitimate user interactions and attempts to extract model capabilities systematically. In addition, any further regulatory action would likely require stronger evidence and additional enforcement mechanisms.
The dispute highlights the intensifying competition between the United States and China in artificial intelligence development. While Anthropic's Claude models continue to rank among the world's top-performing AI systems, Chinese competitors are steadily narrowing the gap.
According to recent industry rankings, Chinese AI companies have made substantial progress. Beijing-based Zhipu AI recently ranked among the world's leading AI models, while Alibaba's Qwen series has also achieved strong global performance rankings.
As the AI race accelerates, concerns surrounding model security, intellectual property protection, and technological competition are increasingly becoming central issues in both corporate strategy and government policy.
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