The Chinese commerce ministry on Monday accused US artificial intelligence firms of using Chinese examples to train their models, according to a report by Business Today. The accusation came days after Washington threatened sanctions on Chinese firms for allegedly stealing American technology.
The Accusation from Beijing
The Chinese commerce ministry stated: "It is understood that many American artificial intelligence enterprises have distilled Chinese models during their research, development and training processes." The ministry claimed that some Chinese models were released close to their US counterparts and had achieved leading capabilities in areas including front-end coding. It also alleged that many American AI companies had distilled Chinese models.
What Is Model Distillation?
Distillation, as described by Business Today, is a process in which an AI model is trained to mimic the output of a larger, more capable one. The method is used across the industry. US officials have said Chinese firms deployed distillation at scale to illicitly copy proprietary American systems, but the Chinese ministry defended the technique as a widely used industry practice.
US Threats and Broader Context
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week threatened sanctions against China, amid reports that the US is also weighing a ban on foreign-made open source models. The Chinese commerce ministry responded by saying the US accusations "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 interests."
This exchange highlights the growing tensions between the two countries over AI technology and data sovereignty, which could affect global technology procurement and cross-border AI model usage.
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