Over the past few months, Anthropic’s Claude generative AI tool was removed from internal systems for Hong Kong-based teams at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.
Anthropic has made clear that Claude is not officially supported in Hong Kong. Some advanced systems now include regional carve-outs excluding “Greater China”.
The move amounts to more than an inconvenience. If colleagues in Singapore or New York retain access while those in Hong Kong do not, the city’s position as a global financial hub is weakened.
Officials talking about Artificial Intelligence often speak in terms of the next industrial revolution or existential risks. Such rhetoric does little to capture how AI filters into the ordinary workings of a city like Hong Kong. The geopolitics of AI are no longer abstract. They are beginning to shape who can use which tools and on what terms.
Claude’s removal is not merely a corporate adjustment. It is a warning that AI is increasingly treated as a strategic asset, rather than as neutral infrastructure.
