China is considering tightening export controls on its home-grown artificial intelligence models and the chips that run them, according to the Financial Times, in a move that would push Beijing’s technology defences well beyond the raw materials and equipment it already guards.
The newspaper, citing two people involved in the discussions, said regulators led by the Ministry of Commerce have been consulting leading domestic AI and chipmaking groups about possible safeguards.
Nothing has been decided, and it is far from clear whether or when any measure would take effect.
The talks are the latest sign that the world’s second-largest economy is starting to treat its best AI as an asset to be protected rather than shared, a mirror image of the American curbs that pushed Chinese firms towards custom ASICs in the first place.
According to the FT, officials are weighing a review of the export lists that cover AI- and chip-related goods, clearer criteria for granting licences, tighter checks on end users, and higher hurdles for transferring technology abroad.
