It wasn’t exactly a surprise. For months, the local startup ecosystem had watched Anthropic prepare for its entry — sponsoring Blackbird’s Sunrise, flying executives in to meet founders, filing paperwork through Baker McKenzie’s Barangaroo offices and posting Sydney job ads since November.
The charm offensive, as Capital Brief reported in February, was well underway before anything was said publicly.
On Tuesday, Anthropic finally said the word. The maker of Claude confirmed it will open a Sydney office in the coming weeks — its fourth in the Asia-Pacific, after Tokyo, Bengaluru and Seoul. An executive visit is planned for late March to formalise partnerships and meet customers and policymakers.
There will be no launch party and no splashy announcement event. The approach is very much in keeping with the company’s quiet strategy in Australia from the start.
