China calls US AI theft claims ‘groundless’ amid tech rivalry

China has dismissed US accusations that Chinese AI labs stole American models’ capabilities as “groundless,” according to Punch Newspapers. The US cyber defence agency had accused top Chinese labs, including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI, of systematically stealing capabilities through “industrial-scale knowledge distillation campaigns.” China’s Ministry of Commerce called the claims a “typical case” of using distillation crackdowns as a pretext for industrial monopoly, describing the accusations as double standards.

The US advisory alleged six Chinese firms used millions of exchanges to replicate systems from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI since late 2024. The dispute comes ahead of an expected meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning urged Washington to avoid “unfounded accusations,” calling for cooperation instead.