Chinese authorities have reportedly held talks with leading tech firms, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA), ByteDance, and Z.ai, about potentially restricting overseas access to Beijing’s most advanced AI models, including unreleased versions.
Officials led by China’s Ministry of Commerce discussed imposing restrictions on the most advanced AI models, including both closed-source and open-source systems, according to sources, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Chinese officials are considering stricter controls on advanced AI by making the leak or theft of proprietary AI technology a national security offense and exploring limits on who can fund domestic AI startups. The proposed measures are still under discussion, could apply only to future AI models, and may not necessarily be implemented, as per the report.
Alibaba and ByteDance did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comments.
AI Export Curbs Could Reshape Market
The discussions reflect Beijing’s growing view of cutting-edge AI as a strategic national asset. Any export limits could reshape global AI markets, increasing costs for businesses that rely on China’s increasingly competitive, low-cost AI models.
This comes amid reports that Alibaba would ban employees from using Anthropic‘s AI tools starting July 10, citing security risks. The company has classified Anthropic’s Claude Code as high-risk software and instructed staff to uninstall all Anthropic models and agent products, replacing them with Alibaba’s in-house AI assistant, Qoder.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has raised national security concerns over advanced AI, particularly the risk of American AI models being misused by military and intelligence agencies in China, Russia, and other countries.
In June, it restricted foreign access to Anthropic’s most advanced AI models, though export controls on the consumer-focused Fable model were later eased after new safeguards. The cybersecurity-focused Mythos model remains limited to select trusted U.S. organizations, while some AI experts have also called for regulating the use of Chinese AI models.
China’s AI Threat Divides Experts
Polsia AI CEO Ben Cera, meanwhile, warned that China’s low-cost, state-of-the-art open-source AI models, such as GLM-5.2, could dramatically reduce enterprise AI spending and pressure the valuations of companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. He argued the “price of AI” bubble is set to burst.
However, Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman rejected the idea that U.S. enterprises would abandon leading American AI labs in favor of Chinese open-source models, calling the narrative baseless.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock
Login to comment