Trump administration vows crackdown on Chinese companies ‘exploiting’ AI models made in US
Trump administration vows crackdown on Chinese companies ‘exploiting’ AI models made in US
Publish Date: 2026-04-23 18:47:00
Source Domain: www.audacy.com
- The Trump administration plans to address the alleged exploitation of U.S. artificial intelligence models by foreign tech companies, with a focus on China.
- Michael Kratsios, the president’s chief science and technology adviser, accused entities based in China of “distillating” capabilities from leading U.S. AI systems.
- The administration intends to collaborate with American AI firms to identify and counter these activities, develop defenses, and penalize offenders.
- China is closing the performance gap with the U.S. in AI, challenging U.S. dominance in the field according to a Stanford report.
- The House Foreign Affairs Committee has shown bipartisan support for a bill aiming to identify and sanction foreign actors engaged in model extraction.
- Tech companies in China have allegedly copied or distilled capabilities from U.S.-based models at lower costs, raising concerns about intellectual property theft.
- The complexities of distinguishing legitimate data requests from unauthorized distillation are highlighted, with experts suggesting that collaboration and government facilitation are needed.
- Political considerations might affect the extent to which the administration pursues actions against China’s tech companies.
