Anthropic Blocks xAI's Claude Access, Escalating AI Rivalry

• Anthropic has blocked Elon Musk-owned xAI from using its Claude AI models, intensifying competition among leading AI firms.
• The decision was communicated internally at xAI after engineers found Claude inaccessible via Cursor, an AI-powered coding platform.
• xAI cofounder Tony Wu stated the shutdown was due to Anthropic's new policy against major competitors, impacting xAI's productivity but pushing for in-house tool development.
• The move is linked to Anthropic's commercial terms, which forbid using Claude to develop competing products or train rival AI systems.
• This incident follows Anthropic's previous actions against rivals like OpenAI and Windsurf, and comes as Musk's X plans to open-source its recommendation algorithm.

Why It Matters: Anthropic's blocking of xAI's Claude access highlights the fierce competition and strategic control over AI models.