Shadow APIs: how Chinese developers bypass restrictions to access Claude and Gemini

In China, a grey market of API relay platforms is thriving, allowing local developers to bypass restrictions to access top-tier overseas AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini, which are officially unavailable in the country, despite an escalating crackdown by the foreign providers. Such relay stations, which route access to overseas AI models through proxy servers hosted outside mainland China, are becoming a go-to place for developers wanting to use US AI models for tasks...