Anthropic Uncovers Unauthorized Distillation Attacks by Chinese AI Firms in 2026
In February 2026, Anthropic, a U.S.-based AI company, reported that three Chinese AI firms—DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax—conducted large-scale distillation attacks to extract capabilities from its Claude AI model. These companies generated over 16 million interactions using approximately 24,000 fraudulent accounts, violating Anthropic's terms of service and regional access restrictions. The attacks focused on Claude's advanced features, including reasoning, coding, and tool use, aiming to enhance their own AI models without proper authorization. This incident underscores the escalating risks of intellectual property theft in the AI sector, particularly through distillation techniques. Such activities not only compromise proprietary technologies but also pose significant national security concerns, as models developed through illicit means may lack essential safety measures, potentially facilitating malicious applications.
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