Alibaba Group Holding LtdAnthropic alleges Alibaba-linked operators ran an unauthorized distillation campaign extracting Claude's reasoning via 151M exchanges to improve Qwen models.

Anthropic has alleged that operators associated with Alibaba Group Holding improperly extracted Claude's reasoning capabilities through more than 151 million exchanges between May and July, according to a company-authored investigation. The probe described the activity as an unauthorized distillation campaign aimed at improving Alibaba's Qwen models, reportedly peaking at nearly three million exchanges per day across thousands of fraudulent accounts. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, and the allegations have not been established by a court or regulator. Alibaba shares rose approximately 0.7% to $109.42 Friday despite the claims. The company's latest results showed AI Cloud and Compute Services revenue climbing 45% to 48.44 billion yuan, roughly 18% of total revenue.
Alibaba Group Holding LtdAnthropic alleges Alibaba-linked operators ran an unauthorized distillation campaign extracting Claude's reasoning via 151M exchanges to improve Qwen models.
Anthropic is the accuser in the distillation probe, but the article gives no financial or operational impact on Anthropic itself.