According to Reuters, Chinese authorities are looking into restricting foreign access to the country's most powerful AI models. Alibaba, Bytedance, and Z.ai would all be affected. The move means both superpowers now treat AI as a strategic asset. For Europe, the convenient shortcut of relying on cheap Chinese open-source models could close much faster than expected.

Beijing has made a slew of moves in recent months to gatekeep its cutting edge and cost-efficient models.

China is considering tighter controls on overseas access to advanced AI models, balancing innovation, national security, and global AI competition.

Chinese authorities have held discussions with some of the country's biggest technology companies over the past month on restricting overseas access to China's most advanced…