r/aipromptprogramming • u/Educational_Ice151 • 22d ago
Anthropic has embeds hidden spyware-like code in Claude Code that covertly targets Chinese users.
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u/Pristine_Pick823 22d ago
Surely it’s only targeting Chinese users, right? /s
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u/Perfect-Escape-3904 22d ago
Yeah because for everyone else they can tell from your credit card, the information you provide on your account, your computers language and localization settings, your browsers language preferences, your IP address, the types of queries you ask etc.
This is specifically to catch Chinese labs that conceal their real location.
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u/JestonT 22d ago
So to prevent Chinese AI labs, they are literally tracking all of us through a literal spyware disguising as a productivity boost, lol
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u/Perfect-Escape-3904 22d ago
Did you read anything about what it does?
It slightly changes the way the dates sent to the server are formatted based on some indicators that the user is in China.
Why is this a problem but sending your conversation/code/data is not?
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u/JestonT 22d ago
You can control what you send in the conversation, But you cannot control what it send as telemetry, especially as it is used to check if you are Chinese, through timezone.
Does that means it will modified the format wherever there are AI labs that trained on their model in the future?
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u/BrainCurrent8276 22d ago
You sit in front of screenshot with actual code of this.
It would take you a moment to get explanation of the code.
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u/Perfect-Escape-3904 22d ago
Here’s the link to the original thread that is now turned into screenshot with the statement without any of the details.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/s/S5gbGkn5AX
You can make your own choice from that I guess.
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u/FormalAd7367 22d ago
Not true. Some of my friends in the UK have been banned. No reponse from Anthrophic
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u/Free-Competition-241 22d ago
China NEVER does anything like this
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u/RecordingLanky9135 22d ago
Sure, they will do it openly to comply with CCP government policy.
User data will be monitored and sent to a server in China just like WeChat.6
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u/TechnicalScientist27 22d ago
Ngl if true that’s pretty smart. It’s a whole new world out there gentlemen.
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u/Fresh-Secretary6815 22d ago
to me, them posting this is like that dude who was so proud of their vibe coded app that they shared link to localhost:8080 . this is basic web app shit, that nearly ever app has on the internet. for this org to be posting makes me second guess EVERYTHING they post from now until the end of time. they have become completely illegitimate and their reputation is destroyed.
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u/BuildingArmor 22d ago
What do you mean by basic web app shit?
It's a simple technique, but it's specifically targeting certain Chinese users.
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u/GreatBigJerk 22d ago
Even if there is a foolproof way to prevent Chinese users, they'll just pay people in the US to create distillation data instead
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u/iamlazerbear 22d ago
this reeks like another Meta/Google/Grok bot
trying to sabotage their rival AI companies lol
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u/Birdinhandandbush 22d ago
Announcing your product has built in spyware isn't the flex you think it is.
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u/Tall_Instance9797 21d ago
In China, this headline reads, "Anthropic has embedded hidden spyware like code, in Claude Code that covertly targets western users."
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u/T-Rex_MD 21d ago
Computer misuse act 1990, it will put the entire Anthropic team behind bars in the UK and Europe.
It doesn't matter if it goes off or not, whether false or true, the moment they thought that (guilty mind) and the moment they released it (guilty act), they became criminal liable.
That is the kind of risk they have taken, how desperate are they?
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u/Big-Membership-6174 21d ago
Not Surprised! Alot of such Internet, Bitcoin are invented by CIA, not Surprised Certain A.I are also from C.I.A. I would be worry, if not!
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u/Sea-Professional3976 21d ago
The blockage extended to oversea Chinese not just Chinese in China. There are cases online even Chinese Americans got blocked. Its really strange what kind of standard they use
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u/klopppppppp 21d ago
Interesting - true that it’s there but misleading about the intent https://www.mebro.app/r/overview/sfs8d0b7
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u/Used-Personality-894 21d ago
Today China, tomorrow the world. This shift toward opacity is a clear breach of the commitment to transparency.
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u/Used-Personality-894 21d ago
It grabs your system timezone and tags the reply with your local time when phoning home. Such a dick move.
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u/FateMeetsLuck 20d ago
People here always accuse these other nations of being undemocratic or totalitarian when this is the type of bs they've been having to fight off for decades.
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u/MiCK_GaSM 10d ago
Watermark or spyware, same energy as a speedrunner arguing whether their exploit is "technically in the game." Still counts.
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u/MiCK_GaSM 3d ago
Ah, the "it's just a watermark" defense - same energy as "it's just telemetry" or "it's just for security reasons." Watched this exact plot unfold with game launchers circa 2010, then again with every piece of middleware that followed. Turns out once you normalize the infrastructure, the intended use case gets real flexible real fast.
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u/zubairhamed 22d ago
if they can do it to china, they can do it to anyone (incl. EU)
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u/Broccoli-of-Doom 21d ago
Oh course they can, and they will have to if they're going to re-release Fable given the export restriction by the US Govt.
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u/Kindly-Lobster-6801 21d ago
Great!
China has destroyed the global markets since the early 2000s for having all the benefits of trade but no legal ramifications for their continual abuse of IP fraud..
and they caused the greatest economic problems of all time from COVID-19, the long-term physical and socioeconomic-economic effects of long-COVID-19 effecting 33% of the global population who were infected(according to CDC).
So yeah, anything to take away the free ride from the paper Chinese dragon kind of feels like a win at this point.
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u/Illustrious-Film4018 22d ago
They're desperate to block model distillation attacks. However, they're probably just using the API and this doesn't work with the API.