China hits back at U.S. over industrial-scale AI theft claims as Washington beats Beijing to Africa with $1 billion AI deal

China has recently dismissed accusations from the U.S. that Chinese technology firms engaged in widespread theft of American artificial intelligence models. China's Commerce Ministry accused the United States of attempting to establish a “monopoly of the AI industry”.

The ministry warned that “if the U.S. suppresses Chinese AI companies under the pretext of targeting distillation, China will take resolute countermeasures”.

In addition, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning urged American officials to “refrain from making unfounded accusations or smears,” maintaining that “China's AI development is the result of high-level technological self-reliance and strength”.

The Chinese pushback came after three American federal agencies: the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency collectively alleged that Chinese companies were exploiting U.S. AI systems.

U.S. officials claimed that Chinese firms such as DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Moonshot AI systematically extracted data from American AI models through a process called distillation.