China dismisses US AI distillation claims, vows countermeasures

The statement came after three US agencies, including the National Security Agency, issued an advisory claiming that China-based AI companies are engaging in 'industrial-scale' distillation of US frontier models. The article is headlined 'China dismisses US AI distillation claims, vows countermeasures.'

China vowed to take resolute countermeasures if the US acts to suppress Chinese AI companies under the pretext of countering distillation. The phrase 'industrial-scale' appears in quotation marks in the excerpt, attributed to the advisory issued by the three agencies. The excerpt does not name the Chinese spokesperson, nor does it identify any of the China-based AI companies referred to by the US agencies. It also does not specify the measures the US is said to be considering, or the countermeasures China has in mind.

The report frames the exchange as a dispute over distillation of US frontier models by China-based AI companies, as described in the US advisory. In the article's account, that advisory characterises the activity as industrial-scale, while the Chinese spokesperson characterises US concern as anxiety about its technological edge. The article states that China's promised countermeasures would follow US action to suppress Chinese AI companies under the pretext of countering distillation.