Indeed! The United States has struck again! Just as the international community was anticipating that the U.S. would include AI in the agenda of Sino-U.S. dialogue, the U.S. has once again taken action. On September 8, the U.S. National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a joint statement claiming that DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Alibaba, MiniMax, StepFun, and Zhipu have been using "distillation" techniques on an "industrial scale" since 2024 to access American AI models and extract information.
The statement alleges these companies are conducting "aggressive, malicious, and targeted distillation activities," and that the Chinese government is likely aware of such actions. The U.S. urges developers to adjust model responses to suspected malicious distillation requests and to share relevant intelligence among one another. Clearly, these six enterprises represent some of China's most advanced AI companies. By virtually targeting all top-tier Chinese AI firms at once and accusing them of so-called "malicious distillation," this move is unmistakably an act of deliberate suppression.
In reality, competition in the field of artificial intelligence has already reached a fever pitch between China and the United States. The U.S. aims to monopolize the AI sector. Now, unilaterally labeling technological practices by Chinese companies as "malicious" and "aggressive," pre-assigning guilt, and asserting a presumption of Chinese government complicity—this entire sequence of actions is not about intellectual property protection at all. Rather, it serves as a pretext for comprehensively containing China’s AI industry and creating leverage in negotiations.
The truth is obvious: China and the U.S. have previously reached consensus on establishing a government-to-government dialogue mechanism on AI. The world is watching closely—can the two countries find a way to manage risks and avoid complete decoupling in cutting-edge technology? However, having a consensus does not mean the U.S. wants to see China rapidly advance in the AI domain. By issuing this preemptive accusation, the U.S. aims to pressure China into concessions on AI regulation, technology transfer, and related issues. We are well aware of America’s old tactics—and clearly, we have the confidence to engage in direct confrontation with the U.S. in the field of AI.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1875824152990724/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.