Anthropic Adds Chinese-Language Options to Claude While Blocking Mainland China Users

Anthropic, the US artificial intelligence company behind the Claude chatbot, has rolled out Chinese-language options across supported markets while continuing to block users located in mainland China. According to checks conducted by the South China Morning Post on Thursday, Claude's web interface now permits users to choose simplified Chinese or traditional Chinese as their preferred on-screen language. At one point, China also surfaced as a billing country option before being removed from the settings. Screenshots circulating on X show UnionPay, described as China's dominant bank card network, listed as a payment method at checkout, though the SCMP said it could not independently verify whether UnionPay payments were actually active. Analysts quoted in the report suggest the move is aimed at overseas Chinese communities rather than signalling any intention to enter the mainland China market. The development places a leading US AI developer's product in closer linguistic reach of Chinese-speaking users abroad even as access from within China remains restricted.