According to US agencies, other companies—including Alibaba, MiniMax, StepFun and Z.AI—appear to have concentrated on reproducing specific models developed by Anthropic and OpenAI.
Ars Technica contacted Anthropic, OpenAI and the other AI companies identified as potential targets, but none had responded immediately. As a result, it remains unclear whether the agencies’ recommended safeguards are practical to implement.
China Rejects US Claims as Unfounded
China has strongly rejected continued US allegations that its leading AI firms have stolen intellectual property.
On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said US agencies should focus on expanding AI cooperation with China “rather than making unfounded accusations,” NBC News reported. She said China’s rapid growth in AI capability reflects “high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.”
Earlier, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang accused the Trump administration of a “smear” campaign rooted in prejudice against China, according to NBC News.
“Relevant US officials should respect the facts, abandon prejudice, and stop smearing and discrediting China’s achievements in artificial intelligence development,” Liu said.
At the time, People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, reported that another Foreign Ministry spokesperson had said many US AI companies had used Chinese models for “distillation” during research, development and training. The newspaper also said numerous US startups were seeking access to Chinese AI models because they are more affordable and sufficiently capable for many tasks.
The spokesperson suggested that Washington should heed its business community, warning that China would take all necessary measures in response to actions materially harming its interests and would firmly protect its legitimate and lawful rights.
China’s push to defend its leading AI models comes as its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a plan this week to “sharply expand the country’s intelligent computing capacity over the next five years,” according to the South China Morning Post. The announcement also comes just ahead of a scheduled meeting between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 24.
