Anthropic recently issued a takedown notice to a developer for reverse-engineering its coding tool, Claude Code, intensifying the contrast in reputations between Anthropic and its main competitor, OpenAI. Both companies maintain rival AI-assisted coding tools—Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex CLI—but have chosen dramatically different licensing structures and engagement strategies.
Anthropic’s Claude Code, currently in beta and tied to a restrictive commercial license, does not permit modifications without explicit approval from Anthropic. Its source code was deliberately obfuscated by the company to prevent public access. When a developer managed to reverse-engineer the tool and later posted the de-obfuscated source code on GitHub, Anthropic swiftly responded with a DMCA complaint, requesting immediate removal of the content.
The decision has sparked criticism online, with developers expressing disappointment at the restrictive stance compared to the more open approach adopted by OpenAI. By contrast, Codex CLI, released under the permissive Apache 2.0 license, has quickly garnered positive attention and goodwill from developers. OpenAI has actively encouraged developer collaboration and has already incorporated dozens of community-driven enhancements into Codex CLI, including integrations enabling the tool to access AI models from rival companies—Anthropic included.
Anthropic has yet to publicly comment on its recent enforcement actions or share plans for future licensing strategies. Critics note that Claude Code, still experiencing early beta-stage issues, could potentially shift towards a more open license over time, depending on how Anthropic’s strategy evolves.
OpenAI’s approach marks an unusual turn of events for a company that, until recently, favored proprietary software releases. The shift may reflect a broader internal reevaluation; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman earlier this year expressed concern that the company’s previous stance on open source had placed it “on the wrong side of history.”
