The White House has accused Chinese entities of carrying out a large-scale effort to steal American artificial intelligence technology, warning that it will take action to protect US innovation.
US science and technology chief Michael Kratsios said there is evidence of what he described as “industrial-scale distillation campaigns” aimed at copying US-developed AI systems.
“The US has evidence that foreign entities, primarily in China, are running industrial-scale distillation campaigns to steal American AI,” Kratsios said in a post on X.
“We will be taking action to protect American innovation.”
AI model distillation is a widely used technique in the industry, typically used by developers to create smaller and more efficient versions of existing models. However, US officials allege that the method is being misused to replicate proprietary systems.
The White House did not name specific organisations in its latest statement, but US tech companies and policymakers have previously raised concerns about firms based in China.
In February, US AI company Anthropic accused Chinese firms including DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax of attempting to extract capabilities from its Claude chatbot in ways it described as intellectual property theft.
That same month, OpenAI also alleged that Chinese-linked actors were using distillation techniques to replicate its models, calling it part of broader efforts to “free-ride” on US AI advancements.
Kratsios further claimed that foreign actors were using large networks of proxies and “jailbreaking techniques” in coordinated efforts to extract American AI breakthroughs.
“These campaigns are systematic and designed to replicate frontier US technology,” he said.
The allegations come ahead of a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled for May 14 in Beijing.
The US-China relationship has increasingly focused on technology competition in recent years, particularly around semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and advanced computing systems.
Officials in Washington have repeatedly warned that safeguarding AI leadership is now a core national security priority, as competition between the two global powers intensifies.
