Those using Claude illegally may have generated billions in revenue for the company

The US-based company Anthropic may have earned as much as $2.3 billion in the first nine months of 2026 from users who violated the terms of service of its Claude artificial intelligence chatbot.

According to TodayPress TV, the Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported this, citing documents prepared by the company for its planned stock market listing.

According to the publication’s estimates, users who violated the rules generated between $1.66 billion and $2.33 billion in revenue for Anthropic between January and September. This accounted for 5–7% of the company’s total revenue during that period.

The violations included the unauthorized resale of access to the Claude chatbot to third parties, as well as the use of the service in countries where it is not officially available, including Russia.

The company said that identifying users who violate its terms and blocking their accounts takes time. During this period, Anthropic continues to receive payments from those accounts.

According to the report, the company stepped up user verification measures in August and September. In October, accounts belonging to users in Russia were blocked on a mass scale.