The Trump administration has announced plans to crack down on foreign tech companies, particularly those based in China, accused of exploiting U.S. artificial intelligence models. In a memo released Thursday, Michael Kratsios, the president's chief science and technology adviser, accused foreign entities of engaging in "industrial-scale campaigns" to extract capabilities from leading U.S.-made AI systems. The administration will collaborate with American AI firms to identify such activities, build defenses, and impose penalties on offenders.
The memo comes as China narrows the gap with the U.S. in AI development. A recent report from Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered AI found that the performance gap between U.S. and Chinese AI models has "effectively closed." The White House has emphasized the importance of maintaining U.S. dominance in AI to set global standards and secure economic and military advantages.
China's embassy in Washington responded by opposing what it called "unjustified suppression" of Chinese companies. Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesperson, stated that China is committed to scientific progress through cooperation and competition, and that it values intellectual property rights. The memo coincides with bipartisan support in the House Foreign Affairs Committee for a bill to identify and penalize foreign actors extracting key technical features from closed-source U.S.-owned AI models.