OKX bans Claude for employees in Hong Kong

Crypto exchange OKX is banning employees in Hong Kong and staff travelling through China from using Claude, the AI assistant from Anthropic. The move follows a brief suspension of OKX’s corporate account at Anthropic in early August. The account has since been restored, but OKX admits that previous usage may not have complied with Anthropic’s regional access rules. The company spends between $6 million and $8 million a month on major AI providers. Bloomberg reports.

In brief:

• OKX blocks Claude for employees in Hong Kong after the corporate account was temporarily suspended.
• Anthropic does not allow Claude to be used in Hong Kong or mainland China.
• OKX spends $6 million to $8 million a month on AI models and integrates AI into performance reviews.

Suspension exposes policy conflict

Anthropic does not officially allow Claude to be used in Hong Kong or mainland China. OKX acknowledges that some of the earlier usage may have been in conflict with that policy. AI requests that previously went through Claude are now being redirected to other models.

The corporate account was briefly suspended in early August, but has since been reactivated. OKX is imposing the restriction as a precaution to prevent further issues with Anthropic’s policy.

OKX invests heavily in AI for employees

Despite the Claude block, OKX continues to focus strongly on AI within the organisation. The company says it spends $6 million to $8 million a month on major AI providers and has incorporated the use of AI tools into employee performance reviews.

That approach fits into a broader strategy in which OKX places technology at the centre of its operations. For example, usage of the OKX Card in Europe grew strongly in the past year, pointing to a growing presence for the platform outside Asia.