China rejects U.S. allegations of AI firms extracting advanced model capabilities
Tensions between China and the United States over artificial intelligence have intensified after Beijing rejected U.S. allegations that Chinese AI companies are conducting large-scale efforts to obtain capabilities from leading American AI systems.
The dispute followed a cybersecurity advisory issued Tuesday by the FBI, National Security Agency and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The agencies alleged that Chinese AI developers had been using a technique known as “distillation” to extract capabilities from some of the most advanced U.S. AI models.
According to the advisory, the activity had been ongoing since at least late 2024 and involved models including Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s GPT, Google’s Gemini and xAI’s Grok.
The U.S. agencies specifically named DeepSeek, Alibaba, Moonshot AI and Z.ai, saying the activity was likely conducted with the knowledge of the Chinese government.
China’s Commerce Ministry dismissed the allegations on Wednesday as baseless, accusing Washington of trying to maintain control over the global AI industry.
The ministry warned that China would respond firmly if the United States used concerns over AI distillation to justify restrictions on Chinese AI companies.
It also said distillation is a widely used technique in the AI industry and is practised globally, including by U.S. companies. China’s Foreign Ministry separately rejected the allegations and urged Washington to stop what it called unsupported accusations.
The ministry said China and the United States, as major AI powers, should pursue cooperation rather than confrontation.
The latest dispute adds to growing tensions between the two countries over artificial intelligence, technology and access to advanced computing capabilities.
