China Strongly Rejects U.S. AI Sanctions Threat, Criticizes 'AI Hegemony' and Double Standards

In response to the U.S. government's recent announcement of plans to investigate and impose sanctions on Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) companies, China's Ministry of Commerce stated on Monday (27th) that it firmly opposes the politicization and instrumentalization of technological and trade issues by the U.S., directly labeling it as typical 'artificial intelligence hegemonism'.

Previously, senior U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Department officials, publicly stated they would launch investigations into Chinese AI firms. The U.S. suspects Chinese companies of using 'distillation' technology to steal intellectual property from cutting-edge American models and accuses companies like Moonshot AI of allegedly circumventing export controls by using advanced NVIDIA chips (such as GB300) for model training in countries like Thailand. The U.S. has threatened to place these companies on the export control 'Entity List' if violations are confirmed.

In response, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce emphasized that Chinese AI firms have long been committed to fundamental research, with some models achieving leading capabilities and being released nearly simultaneously with U.S. counterparts. The accusations from the U.S. completely ignore facts and lack legal or ethical justification. Liu Qiang, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., dismissed U.S. claims as 'entirely baseless' and urged Washington to abandon its biases.

China stressed that 'innovation is not the exclusive right of any single party' and revealed that many U.S. companies also distill knowledge from Chinese models during their R&D processes. Reports have previously indicated that nearly 200 U.S. startups have sent a letter to the government warning that cutting off access to Chinese open-source models would weaken America's own competitiveness. Major multinational corporations have also acknowledged that model distillation is a common industry practice and should allow U.S. firms to continue using Chinese open-source resources.

The Ministry of Commerce emphasized that China will take all necessary measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests and urged the U.S. to abandon its hegemonic mindset, cease smearing and threats. China called on the U.S. to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthen dialogue and governance in the AI field, and jointly promote the positive and ethical advancement of technology, rather than escalating tensions through trade sanctions.