Anthropic said it disrupted state-sponsored surveillance operations using its AI models in China, Iran and west Africa between January and July. The company said the campaigns targeted diaspora and dissident communities, including pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong, Tibetan and Falun Gong communities, and Iranian minorities abroad. Anthropic also accused Chinese developers Moonshot and Deepseek of secretly routing user requests to Claude while distilling the data to improve their own models.
Anthropic logo, a keyboard and a robotic hand are seen in this illustration photo / Reuters-Yonhap
SAN FRANCISCO — Anthropic said Thursday it shut down multiple cases of state-sponsored surveillance operations that used its artificial intelligence (AI) models, and warned that governments and state-aligned actors are increasingly using AI to spy on ethnic minorities and dissidents.
The incidents were found and disrupted between January and July, and they originated in China, Iran and west Africa, Anthropic said in a report about misuse of its models.
These surveillance campaigns "targeted the same diaspora and dissident communities these regimes have historically targeted. These include pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong, Tibetan and Falun Gong communities across Asia, and Iranian minority communities and opponents of the Iranian regime abroad," the report said.
