China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed claims made by U.S. cybersecurity agencies regarding alleged unauthorized extraction of artificial intelligence capabilities. The FBI, National Security Agency, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a joint advisory stating that Chinese AI companies including DeepSeek, Alibaba, Moonshot AI, and Z.ai had engaged in what they characterized as “aggressive, malicious, and targeted distillation activities” targeting systems developed by major U.S. technology companies.
According to the U.S. agencies, these activities involved accessing proprietary functionalities and capabilities from frontier American AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s GPT, Google’s Gemini, and SpaceX’s Grok, with the distillation campaigns occurring since at least late 2024. The advisory alleged the activities likely occurred with Chinese government awareness and noted that Chinese companies circumvented terms of service by routing requests through multiple pathways and bulk purchasing premium subscriptions shared among development teams.
Chinese officials characterized the allegations as unfounded, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stating that China’s AI development reflects indigenous technological capability and strength. Chinese officials emphasized that both nations should cooperate on AI development rather than engage in accusations, framing artificial intelligence advancement as an area where open and inclusive cooperation serves mutual interests.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary asserted that China would be unable to surpass American capabilities despite any distillation efforts. Meanwhile, Chinese AI models have gained traction internationally as cost-effective alternatives to American systems. The subject of AI governance is expected to feature in planned discussions later this month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
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