Goldman Sachs Bars Hong Kong Bankers From Using Anthropic Claude

Goldman Sachs has removed access to Anthropic AI models for its bankers in Hong Kong, according to Reuters. Employees in the Chinese territory were previously able to interact with Anthropic Claude through an internal AI platform, but in recent weeks they have no longer had access.

The move came after Goldman took a strict interpretation of its contract with Anthropic following a consultation with the company, concluding that the bank employees in Hong Kong should not be able to use any Anthropic products, the Financial Times first reported.

Notably, the restriction is Anthropic-specific. Other mainstream models such as Gemini and ChatGPT remain available on Goldman internal AI platform, according to the Reuters source. The decision does not extend to contracts with other AI vendors such as OpenAI.

This selective restriction raises questions about how different AI providers handle geographic compliance. While AI models built by U.S. firms like ChatGPT and Claude are prohibited in mainland China, Hong Kong has mostly remained outside these controls, with usage limits set by the U.S. companies themselves rather than Chinese law.

An Anthropic spokesperson told the FT that its Claude models had never been officially supported in Hong Kong but declined to comment further. This aligns with Anthropic supported countries page, which does not list Hong Kong as a supported region for Claude.ai access.

The distinction matters: Anthropic does not block Hong Kong users from accessing Claude in the same way it blocks mainland China users. Instead, it simply does not offer official support or enterprise contracts for the region. Goldman Sachs, as a major enterprise customer, appears to have interpreted this lack of support as a contractual incompatibility.

The restriction is particularly significant given Goldman Sachs deepening relationship with Anthropic. Goldman CIO Marco Argenti said in February that the bank was working with Anthropic to develop AI‑powered agents aimed at automating a widening range of internal functions, as reported by Yahoo Finance via Reuters.

The bank has invested significantly in building an internal AI platform that gives employees access to multiple model providers. The Hong Kong restriction suggests that even well‑funded enterprise customers can face unexpected geographic limitations when deploying AI tools across global operations.

The Goldman restriction comes at a tense moment for Anthropic in the region. The startup new Mythos AI model has raised concern among governments and financial regulators worldwide about cybersecurity risks, as Reuters reports. Global regulators are trailing financial firms in AI adoption, and Mythos is cited as a model that raises particular oversight concerns.

The combination of Anthropic aggressive model capabilities and its restrictive geographic support means that enterprise customers operating across Asia face a growing patchwork of access rules. Banks and financial institutions with operations in both supported and unsupported regions need to plan for heterogeneous AI tool deployments.

For builders deploying AI tools in global organizations, the Goldman-Anthropic situation highlights several critical lessons:

• Check geographic support before committing to a provider. Anthropic does not support Hong Kong. If your company operates there, Claude may not be available to those teams regardless of your enterprise contract.
• Multi‑model strategies are now mandatory. Goldman kept ChatGPT and Gemini available while blocking Claude. Enterprise deployments need fallback providers for each geographic region.
• Contract interpretation matters. Goldman chose a strict reading of its Anthropic contract. Other companies with Anthropic enterprise deals and Hong Kong operations may face similar restrictions.
• AI compliance is fragmented. Different providers have different regional support lists. There is no universal standard for which AI tools work where.
• Monitor Anthropic supported regions page. The company may expand support to Hong Kong in the future, but for now, builders should treat it as unsupported territory.

The Hong Kong government and Hong Kong Monetary Authority did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the Goldman restriction.