Anthropic Issues Takedown Notice to Developer Reverse-Engineering AI Tool
▼ Summary
– OpenAI’s Codex CLI is more favored by developers compared to Anthropic’s Claude Code, partly due to licensing differences.
– Anthropic has obfuscated Claude Code’s source code and issued a DMCA complaint against a developer who de-obfuscated and posted it on GitHub.
– OpenAI’s strategy has improved its public relations, contrasting with its recent trend towards proprietary products, and may indicate a shift in its philosophy regarding open-source practices.
In the ongoing competition between Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex CLI, the latter seems to be garnering more favor among developers. This is partly because Anthropic has sent takedown notices to a developer attempting to reverse-engineer Claude Code, which is governed by a more restrictive license compared to Codex CLI.
Claude Code and Codex CLI are both tools designed to leverage AI models hosted in the cloud to assist developers with various coding tasks. Released within months of each other, both Anthropic and OpenAI are vying to win over the developer community.
Codex CLI’s source code is accessible under an Apache 2.0 license, which permits both distribution and commercial use. Conversely, Claude Code operates under Anthropic’s commercial license, restricting modifications unless explicitly authorized by the company.
Additionally, Anthropic has taken steps to “obfuscate” Claude Code’s source code, making it not easily accessible. When a developer successfully de-obfuscated the code and posted it on GitHub, Anthropic responded with a DMCA complaint, a legal request for the code’s removal.
This move did not sit well with developers on social media, who contrasted it unfavorably with OpenAI’s approach to Codex CLI. Since its release, OpenAI has integrated numerous developer suggestions into Codex CLI’s codebase, even allowing it to utilize AI models from competing providers, including Anthropic.
Anthropic declined to comment on the matter. It’s worth noting that Claude Code is still in beta and somewhat buggy, and Anthropic might eventually opt to release its source code under a more permissive license. Companies often obfuscate code for various reasons, including security concerns.
OpenAI’s strategy has unexpectedly boosted its public relations, especially when considering its recent trend away from open-source solutions in favor of proprietary products. This might reflect a broader shift in OpenAI’s philosophy; earlier this year, CEO Sam Altman admitted that the company may have been on the “wrong side of history” regarding open-source practices.
(Source: TechCrunch)
