美国人工智能公司Anthropic已在支持的市场中为其Claude聊天机器人添加了中文选项，尽管它仍在阻止来自中国大陆的用户访问。
US artificial intelligence company Anthropic has introduced Chinese-language options to its Claude chatbot in supported markets, even as it continues to block users from mainland China.
《南华早报》对此进行的核查证实，Claude的网页界面现在允许用户选择简体中文和繁体中文作为首选的显示语言。中国大陆也曾短暂出现在账单国家选项中，但随后从设置中消失。
Checks by the South China Morning Post on Thursday confirmed that Claude’s web interface now lets users select simplified and traditional Chinese as their preferred on-screen language. China also briefly appeared as a billing country option before disappearing from the settings.
一些用户在X平台上分享了屏幕截图，显示在结账时出现了中国主导的银行卡网络——银联作为支付选项。《南华早报》无法独立证实银联支付是否已正式启用。Anthropic未能立即回应《南华早报》的置评请求。
Users on X have shared screenshots showing UnionPay, China’s dominant bank card network, as a payment option at checkout. The SCMP was unable to independently confirm whether UnionPay payments were active. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
尽管这些更新引发了一些中国用户的猜测，认为Anthropic可能准备放宽访问限制，但分析人士表示，这些功能可能是为了服务海外中国社区，而不是标志着进入中国大陆市场的计划。
While the updates sparked speculation among some Chinese users that Anthropic might be preparing to ease access restrictions, analysts said the features were likely to target overseas Chinese communities rather than signalling any plan to enter the mainland market.
中国科技分析师兼Hello China Tech创始人赵琪表示，这些变更旨在服务于新加坡、马来西亚、台湾和北美等支持的市场中的中国用户。
Poe Zhao, a China technology analyst and the founder of Hello China Tech, said the changes aimed to serve Chinese-speaking users in supported markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and North America.
“提供中文版本的产品和服务于中国是两个不同的决定，”赵琪说，“Anthropic可以在不做第二件事的情况下做到第一件事。”
“Offering a product in Chinese and serving users in China are two different decisions,” Zhao said. “Anthropic can do the first without the second.
“官方支持地区列表是最好的战略指标，它并没有改变。”Omdia首席分析师苏连杰也表示，Anthropic似乎在瞄准全球华人 diaspora，而不是试图“温和进入中国市场”，并将这次本地化描述为一项具有商业意义的提升用户体验的重要步骤。
“The official supported-region list is the best indicator of its strategy, and it has not changed.”Su Lian Jye, chief analyst at Omdia, agreed that Anthropic appeared to be targeting the global Chinese diaspora rather than attempting to “warm up the Chinese market”, describing the localisation as a commercially significant step to enhance user experience.
这种区分凸显了Anthropic在寻求扩大Claude的全球影响范围的同时，仍需在执行业内最严格的中国大陆访问控制措施之间所面临的平衡艰题。
The distinction highlights the balancing act facing Anthropic as it seeks to expand Claude’s global footprint while enforcing some of the industry’s strictest controls against access from mainland China.
此次政策调整似乎是Anthropic近期加强地域限制措施的延续。上周，多名香港用户反映称，在通过虚拟专用网络（VPN）访问Claude服务后，其账户被突然冻结。
The updates follow what appeared to be a recent tightening of Anthropic’s geographical restrictions. Last week, several Hong Kong users reported abrupt account suspensions after accessing Claude via virtual private networks (VPNs).
这家总部位于旧金山的公司至今仍未将中国大陆、香港及澳门列入其官方支持的服务地区名单。
Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau remain excluded from the San Francisco-based company’s official list of supported regions.
“由于VPN、境外支付卡以及账户转售现象的存在，要准确区分海外中文用户与中国大陆用户始终是个难题，”赵先生指出，“Anthropic主要依靠支付验证、IP检测及账户审核来实现这一区分。我认为此次政策调整并不会导致相关管控标准有所放宽。”苏先生补充道，Anthropic未来可能会采取更严格的身份验证措施来区分这两类用户群体，而此举恐会引发与中国政府的进一步摩擦。
The line between Chinese-speaking users overseas and users based in China will always be difficult to draw precisely Last month, Anthropic accused Chinese AI developers, including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI, of conducting “industrial-scale” distillation using fraudulent accounts and proxy services to harvest Claude’s outputs and reasoning traces. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also repeatedly warned of the risks to the United States’ national security posed by China’s AI advances, urging Washington to maintain strict export controls on advanced chips and equipment. Analysts expect Anthropic to carefully screen new account sign-ups to maintain its enforcement policies without loosening standards. “The line between Chinese-speaking users overseas and users based in China will always be difficult to draw precisely, given VPNs, foreign payment cards and resold accounts,” Zhao said.
Anthropic的举措反映了美国人工智能企业普遍采取的策略。今年早些时候，尽管OpenAI仍禁止中国大陆、香港及澳门地区的用户使用其服务，但该公司已开始招募专门服务中文用户的员工。业内专家称，这一动向凸显了中文开发者在全球范围内日益增强的影响力。
“Anthropic relies on payment checks, IP detection and account reviews to manage it. I don’t expect this change to make those rules looser.”Su added that Anthropic might shift towards tighter identity verification to distinguish between the two user groups, which could provoke further friction with Beijing. Anthropic’s strategy reflects a broader trend among American AI companies. Earlier this year, OpenAI began recruiting staff to serve Chinese-speaking clients despite keeping its services blocked in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Industry experts said the move highlighted the growing global influence of Chinese-speaking developers.