US AI firms push China export curbs while courting Asia markets

Anthropic and other American AI companies are advocating for tighter export controls on China to protect US technological advantages in frontier AI capabilities, while simultaneously expanding into China-adjacent markets in Asia. This dual strategy reflects the industry's navigation of two competing contests: one for frontier model supremacy, where compute power is the critical input, and another for commercial access to the region. The US currently leads in compute resources, and stronger models can accelerate further advantages. The policy prescription includes stricter export controls, hardened access to American systems, and faster adoption among allies.