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China has broadened overseas travel curbs on top artificial intelligence talent at private firms to cover their family members, further tightening measures designed to prevent critical technologies and information from leaking to the US, according to Bloomberg.
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The government has recently started to notify affected people about the wider restrictions, including startup founders and executives of strategically important firms in the AI sector, the report said.
Direct relatives such as spouses and children of certain AI and chip company chiefs whose work is considered vital to state security now require Beijing's approval to travel overseas even for short trips.
This came after China released a regulation on exit and entry administration - effective September 15 - under which individuals suspected of posing a threat to state industrial and technological security will face exit restrictions.
China plans to add more relevant individuals to the list over time, and the government has already told several people that their families' overseas travel needs to be cleared.
Meta's US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion) acquisition of Chinese AI startup Manus has heightened Chinese officials' fears of losing key technology and talent.
While Beijing ultimately forced the US company to scrap the deal, it has since tightened curbs on US investment in sensitive tech firms.