China Urges AI Leaders to Avoid US Travel Amid Security Concerns

China tells its AI leaders to avoid US travel over security concerns, WSJ reports

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities are instructing the country's top artificial intelligence entrepreneurs and researchers to avoid travel to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The authorities are concerned that Chinese AI experts traveling abroad could divulge confidential information about the nation's progress, the newspaper said. Authorities also fear that executives could be detained and used as a bargaining chip in U.S.-China negotiations, the Journal said, drawing parallels to the detention of a Huawei executive in Canada at Washington's request during the first Trump administration. The White House and China's State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment. Executives at leading Chinese companies in AI and other strategically sensitive industries, such as robotics, are being discouraged from traveling to the U.S. and its allies unless absolutely necessary, the Journal report said. Executives who choose to travel are instructed to report their plans before leaving and, upon returning, to brief authorities on what they did and whom they met, the report said. Chinese AI startup DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng declined an invitation to attend an AI summit in Paris in February, according to the report. Another founder of a major Chinese AI startup canceled a planned U.S. trip last year following instructions from Beijing, the Journal added. U.S. and China are locked in a global AI race, with DeepSeek recently launching AI models that it claims rival or surpass U.S. industry leaders like OpenAI and Google, at significantly lower cost. In February, President Xi Jinping held a rare meeting with some of the biggest names in China's technology sector, urging them to "show their talent" and be confident in the power of China's model and market. Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Raju Gopalakrishnan Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

China Tells Its AI Leaders to Avoid US Travel Over Security Concerns, WSJ Reports

(Reuters) - Chinese authorities are instructing the country's top artificial intelligence entrepreneurs and researchers to avoid travel to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The authorities are concerned that Chinese AI experts traveling abroad could divulge confidential information about the nation's progress, the newspaper said. Authorities also fear that executives could be detained and used as a bargaining chip in U.S.-China negotiations, the Journal said, drawing parallels to the detention of a Huawei executive in Canada at Washington's request during the first Trump administration. The White House and China's State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment. Executives at leading Chinese companies in AI and other strategically sensitive industries, such as robotics, are being discouraged from traveling to the U.S. and its allies unless absolutely necessary, the Journal report said. Executives who choose to travel are instructed to report their plans before leaving and, upon returning, to brief authorities on what they did and whom they met, the report said. Chinese AI startup DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng declined an invitation to attend an AI summit in Paris in February, according to the report. Another founder of a major Chinese AI startup canceled a planned U.S. trip last year following instructions from Beijing, the Journal added. U.S. and China are locked in a global AI race, with DeepSeek recently launching AI models that it claims rival or surpass U.S. industry leaders like OpenAI and Google, at significantly lower cost. In February, President Xi Jinping held a rare meeting with some of the biggest names in China's technology sector, urging them to "show their talent" and be confident in the power of China's model and market. (Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

China tells its AI leaders to avoid US travel over security concerns

Chinese authorities are urging AI experts to avoid travel to the U.S. to prevent sharing sensitive information and avoid potential detainment. Executives in AI and other sensitive industries are told to report travel plans and debrief upon return. The U.S. and China are in an AI race, with startups like DeepSeek launching competitive AI models.Chinese authorities are instructing the country's top artificial intelligence entrepreneurs and researchers to avoid travel to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The authorities are concerned that Chinese AI experts traveling abroad could divulge confidential information about the nation's progress, the newspaper said. Authorities also fear that executives could be detained and used as a bargaining chip in U.S.-China negotiations, the Journal said, drawing parallels to the detention of a Huawei executive in Canada at Washington's request during the first Trump administration. The White House and China's State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment. Executives at leading Chinese companies in AI and other strategically sensitive industries, such as robotics, are being discouraged from traveling to the U.S. and its allies unless absolutely necessary, the Journal report said. Executives who choose to travel are instructed to report their plans before leaving and, upon returning, to brief authorities on what they did and whom they met, the report said. Chinese AI startup DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng declined an invitation to attend an AI summit in Paris in February, according to the report. Another founder of a major Chinese AI startup canceled a planned U.S. trip last year following instructions from Beijing, the Journal added. U.S. and China are locked in a global AI race, with DeepSeek recently launching AI models that it claims rival or surpass U.S. industry leaders like OpenAI and Google, at significantly lower cost. In February, President Xi Jinping held a rare meeting with some of the biggest names in China's technology sector, urging them to "show their talent" and be confident in the power of China's model and market.

China tells its AI leaders to avoid US travel over security concerns, WSJ reports

A giant screen shows news footage of Deepseek Founder Liang Wenfeng and Tencent's Pony Ma attending a symposium on private enterprises, at a shopping complex in Beijing, China, Feb. 17. Reuters-Yonhap Chinese authorities are instructing the country's top artificial intelligence entrepreneurs and researchers to avoid travel to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The authorities are concerned that Chinese AI experts traveling abroad could divulge confidential information about the nation's progress, the newspaper said. Authorities also fear that executives could be detained and used as a bargaining chip in U.S.-China negotiations, the Journal said, drawing parallels to the detention of a Huawei executive in Canada at Washington's request during the first Trump administration. The U.S. and China are locked in a global AI race, with Chinese startup DeepSeek recently launching AI models that it claims rival or surpass U.S. industry leaders such as OpenAI and Alphabet's Google, at significantly lower cost. The White House and China's State Council Information Office, which handles media inquiries on behalf of the government, did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment. Chinese President Xi Jinping told a meeting of top Communist Party officials on Friday to improve China's overall security, including in the realms of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, China's state broadcaster reported on Saturday. "We should give top priority to defending the country's political security," Xi was quoted as having told other members of the governing Politburo. Last month, the Chinese leader held a rare meeting with some of the biggest names in the world's second-largest economy's technology sector, urging them to "show their talent" and be confident in the power of China's model and market. Chinese executives who choose to travel are instructed to report their plans before leaving and, upon returning, to brief authorities on what they did and whom they met, the Journal report said. DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng declined an invitation to attend an AI summit in Paris in February, according to the report. Another founder of a major Chinese AI startup cancelled a planned U.S. trip last year following instructions from Beijing, the Journal added. (Reuters)