Alibaba is banning its employees from using Anthropic’s Claude Code programming tool due to security concerns and compliance issues. Anthropic already has restrictions in place for Chinese companies, and has been working to close loopholes that allow unauthorized access. The company experimented with a version of Claude Code that could identify Chinese users to prevent abuse, but has since developed stronger measures. Alibaba has classified Claude Code as high-risk software and will have employees use its own Qoder tool instead. Why it matters: this move highlights the growing tensions and complexities surrounding AI access and security in the global tech landscape.