Alibaba Group has instructed employees to stop using Anthropic’s Claude Code for work-related tasks, directing developers to instead use the company’s internally developed AI coding platform, Qoder.
The decision comes after growing concerns surrounding features in Claude Code that some developers believe can identify users connected to China by analyzing aspects of their computing environment. Alibaba has not publicly detailed its internal policy, but the move marks another escalation in the increasingly tense relationship between Chinese technology companies and leading U.S. AI developers.
Concerns Over User Identification
The restriction follows reports from developers who examined Claude Code and claimed the application contains mechanisms capable of collecting information about a user’s environment before communicating with Anthropic’s servers.
According to those findings, the software can analyze factors such as a user’s time zone, proxy-related configuration, and other system characteristics. Researchers also reported that Claude Code attaches hidden metadata to requests sent to Anthropic’s infrastructure, raising concerns among some users about how the platform identifies and manages access.
The discoveries attracted significant attention among developers in China, where Anthropic’s services are officially unavailable but have nevertheless gained popularity through various workarounds.
Alibaba’s internal guidance reportedly recommends that engineers avoid Claude Code altogether and instead rely on Qoder, the company’s own AI-powered programming assistant.
Dispute Between Alibaba and Anthropic
The policy change comes only weeks after Anthropic publicly accused Alibaba of unlawfully extracting capabilities from its Claude AI models.
In a letter published last month, Anthropic described the incident as the largest known attack of its kind against the company, alleging that sophisticated techniques had been used to reproduce aspects of Claude’s behavior.
Alibaba has not publicly accepted those allegations.
The dispute reflects the growing competition between American and Chinese AI companies as governments tighten restrictions on advanced AI technologies and semiconductor exports.
AI Development Becomes Increasingly Fragmented
Claude Code has become one of the most widely used AI programming assistants globally, helping developers generate code, debug software, explain programming concepts, and automate engineering workflows.
Despite Anthropic restricting direct access for users in mainland China, the tool has developed a sizable following among Chinese programmers because of its coding capabilities.
Alibaba, meanwhile, has invested heavily in building its own AI ecosystem, including foundation models, cloud infrastructure, and developer tools designed to reduce reliance on foreign AI platforms.
Encouraging employees to adopt Qoder instead of Claude Code aligns with the company’s broader strategy of strengthening its proprietary AI products while limiting dependence on competing technologies.
The broader takeaway is that geopolitical tensions are increasingly shaping enterprise AI adoption. As competition between Chinese and U.S. AI companies intensifies, businesses are becoming more selective about which AI platforms employees are allowed to use, particularly when software raises concerns over data handling, user identification, or strategic dependence on foreign technology providers.
