Beijing accuses US firms of training AI models on Chinese examples

China's commerce ministry accused U.S. artificial intelligence companies on Monday of distilling Chinese models during their research, development, and training processes. This accusation comes just days after Washington threatened sanctions against Chinese firms for allegedly stealing American technology.

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It is understood that many American artificial intelligence enterprises have distilled Chinese models during their research, development and training processes.

"It is understood that many American artificial intelligence enterprises have distilled Chinese models during their research, development and training processes," the ministry stated. Distillation is an industry-standard process where an AI model is trained to mimic the output of a larger, more capable one. However, U.S. officials claim Chinese firms have used this method extensively to illicitly copy proprietary American systems.

Beijing rejected the U.S. accusations, calling them "lack factual basis and legal grounds, adopt double standards in practice, and constitute typical acts of artificial intelligence hegemonism." The ministry added, "China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests."

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lack factual basis and legal grounds, adopt double standards in practice, and constitute typical acts of artificial intelligence hegemonism.

Last week, a senior White House official accused Chinese startup Moonshot AI of covertly copying Anthropic's advanced model to build its Kimi K3. The release of Moonshot's latest model has intensified discussions about the AI rivalry between the U.S. and China. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also threatened sanctions, and reports suggest the U.S. is considering curbs on foreign-made open-source models often built through distillation.

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China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests.