Chinese developers circumvent Anthropic's ID verification for Claude AI amid US-China tensions

Anthropic, a US artificial intelligence startup, implemented real-name identity verification requiring government-issued ID and live selfies to prevent abuse and comply with legal obligations. This policy change has alarmed Chinese developers who heavily rely on Claude models and Claude Code for their advanced capabilities. Despite official bans covering China, Hong Kong, and Macau, strong demand persists, leading to black market workarounds scaling up. Access has typically been maintained through virtual private servers or relay platforms like AICodeMirror, which reports over 10,000 registered users and 200 institutional clients. The new requirements, similar to financial industry 'know your customer' checks, are expected to significantly hinder such access. Anthropic cited national security reasons amid intensifying US-China AI competition for the restrictions. The policy update occurred on Wednesday, quickly reverberating across China's developer community.