Trump blasted by Beijing over US claims of "industrial-scale" AI theft by Chinese companies #
Beijing, China - Beijing slapped back after President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday accused Chinese companies of repeatedly stealing US-developed artificial intelligence (AI) models.
In a statement shared by Beijing's state-run news agency Xinhua, China's Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday voiced "firm opposition" the US allegations, declaring that they are "groundless and without legal basis."
The comments came after the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), along with several other government departments, accused Chinese companies on Tuesday of widespread theft of AI technology via the process of "distillation."
"China-based [AI] companies are conducting systematic extraction of proprietary functionalities and capabilities of US AI companies' models," Tuesday's CISA advisory said.
CISA's allegations came mere weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on September 24, and at an unstable time for the two countries' relationship.
It is also not the first time that the Trump administration has hit Beijing with similar allegations, in April accusing many of the same Chinese entities of the exact same crime they are now warning of in September.
"The US move politicizes distillation, which is a normal technical and commercial issue in the AI industry," a spokesperson for the Commerce Ministry was cited as saying by Xinhua. They added that the accusations are "proof of the [US'] pursuit of technological hegemony."
"China's open-source models are open to global enterprises, including those from the United States. Some US enterprises have disclosed the distillation of a large number of Chinese models," the spokesperson continued.
"The US side has repeatedly and unilaterally accused Chinese enterprises of engaging in 'industrial-scale' distillation, and smeared common practices as aggressive acts. This reflects the anxiety and double standards of the United States."
Cover photo: IMAGO/Dreamstime