The United States has formally accused China of stealing artificial intelligence technology, with specific allegations centered around distillation campaigns that utilize proxy accounts and jailbreaking to extract advanced capabilities from US AI systems. This accusation comes just before a planned summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping and is part of a broader strategy by US officials to categorize model extraction as industrial espionage, prompting agencies to prepare for potential penalties and restrictions against such activities.

China: The People’s Republic of China pursues rapid advancement in artificial intelligence as part of its strategy for technological independence and global competitiveness. The US has accused Chinese groups of orchestrating large-scale theft of proprietary data from American AI models like those from Anthropic and OpenAI. China dismisses the claims as pure slander and reaffirms its dedication to intellectual property protection through fair competition.
US Government: The US federal government, via its executive branch and offices like the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, shapes policies to advance and protect American technological leadership. Director Michael Kratsios recently issued a memo accusing principally Chinese entities of deliberate industrial-scale campaigns to steal intellectual property from US AI labs through distillation attacks. This accusation underscores efforts to counter foreign threats to AI dominance amid rising US-China tensions.

`json
{
“Theft Technique”: “Accusations focus on campaigns using proxy accounts and jailbreaking to extract capabilities from US AI systems.”,
“Diplomatic Timing”: “The White House statement precedes a planned summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping.”,
“US Countermeasures”: “Officials plan to treat model extraction as industrial espionage, directing agencies to pursue penalties and restrictions.”
}
`