After being collectively blacklisted by the Chinese academic community due to sanctions policies, NeurIPS issued an emergency apology.

Academic papers that initially screamed about not wanting Chinese AI were quickly blacklisted by the Chinese academic community, and their apology came remarkably swiftly.

NeurIPS, also known as the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, is classified by the China Computer Federation (CCF) as an A-level conference in the field of artificial intelligence, ranking seventh globally in academic influence. In its 2026 call for papers, NeurIPS explicitly stated: "Compliance with U.S. sanctions and trade control regulations is mandatory," thus prohibiting submissions from universities, research institutions, and enterprises subject to U.S. sanctions—including several renowned Chinese universities and key companies like Huawei.

This means that even if we achieve the most cutting-edge results, we are barred from presenting them on this international academic stage—clearly violating the fundamental principles of academic neutrality and science transcending national borders, especially since NeurIPS is an academic conference.

Upon the announcement, the domestic AI community erupted in outrage. The China Computer Federation was among the first to respond, declaring: "We will no longer participate. From now on, we will not submit papers to NeurIPS journals, nor will we serve as reviewers for your publications. You can play your game, and we'll play ours." Subsequently, the CCF removed NeurIPS from its "Recommended Journal List."

Initially, NeurIPS insisted this policy was legally compliant. Only after being completely cut off by us did they finally grasp the seriousness of the issue. After all, in the field of AI, the world simply cannot do without China’s scientific community. Over half of the world’s AI talent resides in China—if China's AI community were to establish its own alternative forum, NeurIPS’s authority would suffer a dramatic decline.

Thus, the apology statement seen in the image below emerged—a clear admission of internal miscommunication, with the policy now officially rescinded—effectively giving them a graceful way out.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1860831740014723/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.