Anthropic’s Claude AI model has been restricted for use in JPMorgan’s Hong Kong office. The development comes at a time when traditional banking giants including the Wall Street majors are getting more careful in terms of integrating AI in the existing financial systems.
Anthropic’s usage terms in its licensing agreement with JPMorgan was reportedly the point of friction for the two companies, Financial Times reported on Thursday. While elaborate details on exactly which part of the licensing agreement did not sit well with the bank, Claude has been removed from the list of approved AI models available to JPMorgan employees in the territory.
As of now, neither JPMorgan nor Anthropic have addressed the situation publicly. The Coin Headlines has reached out to both the companies but their responses remain awaited for now.
The dismissal of Claude from JPMorgan’s Hong Kong office list is purely contractual and not a comment on the AI model.
Earlier in April, Goldman Sachs had also taken a similar step and had removed Claude from the list of approved tools available to its Hong Kong-based bankers. That time as well, Anthropic’s licensing agreements did not co-incide with the regional restrictions Greater China, including Hong Kong.
Amid the U.S.-China AI tensions, Anthropic had earlier told Financial Times that Claude models were never officially supported in the Hong Kong market. Both nations are racing to localize AI repositories as much as they can to protect their respective national interests.
Source: Anthropic
Hong Kong, by itself, does not have a government-enforced firewall blocking AI models likde Claude in the region, despite which Anthropic chooses not to tap the market actively.
