US accuses Chinese AI firms of ‘malicious’ copying of AI technology

The US government has accused six Chinese AI firms, including DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and Alibaba 9988.HK, of maliciously copying technology from American AI companies through a technique known as distillation. This process involves training smaller AI models using the output from larger, more expensive ones to reduce costs. The US officials believe these actions were likely with Chinese government awareness and targeted major American AI models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and SpaceX.

The allegations come as President Xi Jinping's visit to the US approaches, and as the nations prepare to discuss AI safety risks. China's foreign ministry responded by praising China's AI advancements as a result of self-reliance and urging the US to refrain from making false accusations.

Brief written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.