Anthropic’s Distillation Claim Hits Alibaba as AI Rivalry Deepens

Anthropic alleges Alibaba used about 25,000 fake accounts to harvest 28.8–29 million Claude exchanges in a so‑called distillation attack, turning a private IP dispute into a national-security issue as U.S. lawmakers weigh model access. Alibaba’s stock has slid this year amid regulatory headwinds despite its fast-growing Qwen model and cloud business (Q4 FY2026 EBITA down 84% but cloud revenue up about 38% YoY; Qwen open‑source downloads exceed 1B; ~300M monthly active users). Investors will watch Alibaba’s response, any formal hearings, and whether Anthropic can substantiate its claim with evidence.}