Investors from mainland China and Hong Kong are being excluded from Anthropic’s initial public offering. Multiple banks leading the deal have rejected buy orders from these regions or deemed allocations unlikely. The reason cited is ITAR, the US export control rules governing defense-related goods. Anthropic declined to comment on the specific restrictions. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are managing the offering alongside twenty other banks. The stock is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT after pricing on November 18.
This exclusion reflects the company’s broader relationship with the country, which has been defined by confrontation. Anthropic’s products are not officially available in China or Hong Kong. The firm has blocked firms under Chinese control from its AI services. It has also fought workarounds that allow Chinese companies to access Claude Code. Previously, Anthropic exposed large-scale distillation attacks by DeepSeek, Moonshot, and MiniMax involving roughly 16 million queries. These actions highlight the strict adherence to US regulations regarding sensitive technology.
* ITAR rules prevent participation by investors linked to restricted regions.
* Anthropic actively blocks access for Chinese-controlled firms.
* The company recently revealed massive data extraction attempts by local rivals.
