# Anthropic rolls back China tracking code — retained record

> Retained news record from news:semafor.

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:semafor)  published 2026-07-01 22:49 ingested 2026-07-02 08:54

[original source ↗](https://www.semafor.com/article/07/01/2026/anthropic-rolls-back-china-tracking-code)

## retained text



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Anthropic is rolling back spyware-like code it implemented to track whether users are affiliated with Chinese AI labs.
A cybersecurity newsletter reported that the Claude Code feature covertly tracked and transmitted information based on a user’s timezone and potential connection to Chinese tech companies accused of illicitly training their own models using Claude’s answers; an Anthropic employee called it an “experiment.”
The episode underscores how US-China competition is shaping decisions around high-powered AI systems: The White House recently lifted its ban on foreign access to advanced Anthropic models, but businesses that now rely on AI still worry about a US “kill switch” driven by national security concerns. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called for a US-led international forum to set global AI safety standards.
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