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| International Anthropic Managing Director Chris Ciri speaks at a press conference in Seoul, South Korea. | photo by Yonhap. |
SEOUL - Anthropic has officially opened a new office in Seoul, South Korea, marking another step in the U.S. artificial intelligence company's international growth strategy. However, the expansion comes at a sensitive time as Washington increases restrictions on foreign access to some of the world's most advanced AI systems.
According to reports from South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, Anthropic's move into the Korean market follows a recent decision to suspend access to its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. The suspension was made in response to a directive from the U.S. government that restricted access to the models for foreign nationals on national security grounds.
The issue has attracted significant attention across the technology industry because the restrictions apply not only to overseas users but also to foreign nationals residing in the United States, including non-U.S. employees working at Anthropic.
Speaking at a press conference in Seoul, Anthropic's International Managing Director, Chris Ciauri, described South Korea as one of the company's fastest-growing markets.
"Korea is one of our fastest-growing markets globally because of its strong technical community and developer ecosystem," Ciauri said.
He added that South Korea could soon become one of Anthropic's most important markets worldwide.
Anthropic's growing interest in South Korea is supported by its own usage data. According to the company's Economic Index report published in March, South Korea ranked 12th among 116 countries in per-capita usage of Claude, Anthropic's flagship AI assistant.
"I would not be surprised to see that ranking move into the top ten very soon," Ciauri said.
As part of its expansion plans, Anthropic intends to build a local partner ecosystem involving major cloud computing providers, including Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). These companies, commonly known as hyperscalers, operate large-scale cloud infrastructure capable of supporting advanced AI workloads and massive data processing requirements.
The company is also evaluating options for local data storage and processing facilities in order to comply with South Korea's data governance and privacy regulations.
Export Controls Create Uncertainty
While Anthropic continues to invest in international markets, questions remain about the future impact of U.S. export controls on advanced AI technologies.
Recent measures introduced by the Trump administration required Anthropic to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 after officials cited national security concerns related to the potential misuse of highly capable AI systems. Anthropic stated that it received the directive without detailed explanations regarding the specific security risks involved.
Reports from U.S. media outlets indicate that concerns intensified after officials reviewed information involving a South Korean telecommunications company participating in Anthropic's advanced AI security initiatives. Some officials reportedly questioned whether connections between the company and Chinese business interests could create security risks for access to frontier AI systems.
The restrictions have become one of the most significant examples of the growing intersection between artificial intelligence development, national security policy, and international technology competition. Industry analysts note that the case highlights the challenges governments face in regulating increasingly powerful AI models while maintaining global collaboration and innovation.
Project Glasswing Under Scrutiny
During the Seoul press conference, Ciauri declined to provide additional details when asked about the U.S. government's export restrictions and their connection to Project Glasswing.
"We are not commenting on Project Glasswing at this time," he said.
Project Glasswing is Anthropic's cybersecurity and security-research initiative that grants selected organizations early access to some of the company's most advanced AI models. The program is designed to help trusted institutions identify vulnerabilities, improve cyber defenses, and evaluate emerging AI capabilities before wider deployment.
Korea Remains a Strategic AI Market
Despite regulatory uncertainty, Anthropic's decision to establish a physical presence in Seoul underscores the strategic importance of South Korea in the global AI landscape.
The country has emerged as one of Asia's leading technology hubs, supported by a strong developer community, advanced digital infrastructure, and government initiatives aimed at becoming a major center for AI innovation. For Anthropic, expanding in Korea provides access to a highly skilled technical workforce and a rapidly growing enterprise market that is increasingly adopting generative AI technologies.
As global competition in artificial intelligence intensifies, Anthropic's expansion into Seoul demonstrates both the opportunities and the geopolitical challenges facing AI companies seeking growth beyond the United States.
