{"rewrite":{"id":"r_63910f04dd8b4b657a1df0da","clusterId":"c_6c2165dbacb69dc0c336d386","slug":"chinese-gray-market-sells-anthropic-ai-access-at-10-of-official-price","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"Chinese Gray Market Sells Anthropic AI Access at 10% of Official Price","summary":"A gray market in China uses API proxies called \"中转站\" to resell access to Anthropic's Claude and Claude Code at about 10% of the official price, despite Anthropic's geographic restrictions and identity verification measures. The supply chain involves account registration services, SMS verification, payment processing, and reverse engineers.","whyItMatters":"The scale and organization of this gray market-including tens of thousands of proxy accounts and coordinated distillation campaigns-show that Anthropic's technical and policy barriers have not stopped Chinese access to its AI models.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eAnthropic excludes China from Claude\u0026#39;s supported regions and has layered on restrictions including phone number matching, overseas credit card requirements, and identity verification with government-issued IDs and live selfies. In April 2026, the White House warned that Chinese organizations use \u0026#34;tens of thousands of proxy accounts\u0026#34; for industrial-scale distillation of American AI models. Anthropic reported in February 2026 that a single proxy network managed over 20,000 fraudulent accounts in a coordinated attack by Chinese research institutions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite these measures, Chinese users access Claude and Claude Code through API proxies called \u0026#34;中转站,\u0026#34; which sit between the developer and Anthropic\u0026#39;s infrastructure. Users pay in RMB via WeChat Pay or Alipay at roughly a tenth of the official token price. The supply chain includes operators who register large numbers of Anthropic accounts, SMS verification services, card payment services, proxy networks, and reverse engineers tracking changes in detection logic.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Anthropic's identity verification and geo-blocking are bypassed by a supply chain of SMS verification, payment processing, and reverse engineers. The proxy operators profit while Anthropic absorbs the API cost.","twitterPost":"Anthropic's geo-blocking is bypassed by a supply chain of SMS verification and reverse engineers. The proxy operators profit while Anthropic pays for the API calls.","threadsPost":"Anthropic's Claude access is being resold in China at 10% of the official price through API proxies called 中转站. The supply chain includes account registration services, SMS verification, payment processing, and reverse engineers. Anthropic's identity verification measures are being systematically bypassed.","newsletterBlurb":"A gray market in China sells access to Anthropic's Claude and Claude Code at about 10% of the official price through API proxies called \"中转站.\" Despite Anthropic's restrictions-including phone number matching, overseas credit card requirements, and identity verification-users pay in RMB via WeChat Pay or Alipay. The White House warned in April 2026 that Chinese organizations use tens of thousands of proxy accounts for industrial-scale distillation of American AI models.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"GIGAZINE\",\"url\":\"https://gigazine.net/news/20260626-china-anthropic-api/\",\"title\":\"What is the reality of the gray economy supported by the API proxy \\\"中转站\\\" that allows Chinese developers to use Anthropic's AI models at about 10% of the official price?\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4161,"outputTokens":642,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1782604824,"createdAt":"2026-06-27T23:51:22.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-06-27T23:55:24.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-27T23:55:24.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_6c2165dbacb69dc0c336d386","canonicalTitle":"中国の開発者が公式価格の約10％でAnthropicのAIモデルを利用できるAPIプロキシ「中转站」が支えるグレー経済圏の実態とは？","representativeArticleId":"a_6074525b44eb16b1aa04543a","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"other\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-06-26T12:00:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-06-26T12:00:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-27T23:55:24.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"GIGAZINE","url":"https://gigazine.net/news/20260626-china-anthropic-api/","title":"中国の開発者が公式価格の約10％でAnthropicのAIモデルを利用できるAPIプロキシ「中转站」が支えるグレー経済圏の実態とは？"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"other","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["Anthropic reported in February 2026 that a single proxy network managed over 20,000 fraudulent accounts in a coordinated attack by Chinese research institutions.","Chinese users access Claude and Claude Code through API proxies called '中转站' at roughly a tenth of the official token price, paying in RMB via WeChat Pay or Alipay.","In April 2026, the White House warned that Chinese organizations use tens of thousands of proxy accounts for industrial-scale distillation of American AI models.","Anthropic's restrictions include phone number matching, overseas credit card requirements, and identity verification with government-issued IDs and live selfies.","The supply chain includes operators who register large numbers of Anthropic accounts, SMS verification services, card payment services, proxy networks, and reverse engineers."]}