US Administration Accuses Chinese Entities of Industrial-Scale AI Model Distillation, Announces Countermeasures

Apr 24, 2026, 11:52

Introduction

The White House has issued a memorandum accusing foreign entities, primarily based in China, of conducting large-scale campaigns to extract capabilities from US frontier artificial intelligence systems. The administration stated it will share intelligence with American AI companies, develop defensive best practices, and explore punitive measures.

Main Body

On April 23, Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, released a memo alleging that foreign actors—principally in China—are engaged in deliberate, industrial-scale distillation campaigns. According to the memo, these actors use tens of thousands of proxy accounts and jailbreaking techniques to systematically extract proprietary information from US AI models, thereby exploiting American innovation. The administration indicated it would collaborate with US AI firms to identify such activities, build defenses, and hold offenders accountable. The memo was issued concurrently with a bipartisan bill in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would establish a process to identify foreign entities extracting key technical features from closed-source US AI models and impose sanctions. Representative Bill Huizenga (R-MI), the bill’s sponsor, characterized model extraction as a form of economic coercion and intellectual property theft. Chinese officials responded by rejecting the allegations. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, stated that China opposes unjustified suppression of its companies and emphasized its commitment to intellectual property protection through cooperation and healthy competition. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun described the US claims as baseless slander and accused Washington of technological coercion, urging an end to suppression and a focus on mutual technological exchange. The accusations follow earlier statements by US AI companies. In February, Anthropic alleged that Chinese firms DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax had illicitly extracted capabilities from its Claude chatbot using distillation. OpenAI, in a letter to lawmakers, accused DeepSeek of free-riding on its models. David Sacks, then serving as President Trump’s AI and crypto adviser, also claimed that DeepSeek had distilled knowledge from OpenAI’s models. Last year, DeepSeek released a large language model that competed with US counterparts at significantly lower cost, unsettling markets. Distillation is a recognized technique for training smaller, cheaper models from larger ones. Anthropic acknowledged its legitimate use but argued that unauthorized large-scale extraction allows competitors to acquire powerful capabilities in a fraction of the time and cost of independent development. The practice is not one-sided: San Francisco-based startup Anysphere recently stated that its latest product was based on an open-source model from Chinese company Moonshot AI. Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, noted that distinguishing unauthorized distillation from legitimate data requests is akin to “looking for needles in an enormous haystack.” He suggested that information sharing and coordination among US AI labs could help, and that the federal government could facilitate such efforts. Chan also observed that the timing of the memo—ahead of a planned mid-May state visit by President Trump to Beijing for a summit with President Xi Jinping—may influence the administration’s approach, as Trump might avoid escalating tensions before the meeting.

Conclusion

The US administration has formally accused Chinese entities of systematic AI model theft and announced plans to counter such activities, while China has denied the allegations and called for cooperation. The situation unfolds against a backdrop of narrowing US-China AI performance gaps and a forthcoming high-level diplomatic meeting, leaving the trajectory of enforcement and bilateral relations uncertain.

Vocabulary Learning

coercion
The practice of persuading someone to do something by using force, threats, or undue pressure.通過使用武力、威脅或不當壓力說服某人做某事的行为。
Example:Representative Huizenga characterized model extraction as a form of economic coercion.
distillation
The process of extracting knowledge or capabilities from a larger AI model to train a smaller, more efficient model.從大型AI模型中提取知識或能力以訓練更小、更高效模型的過程。
Example:The memo alleged that foreign actors are engaged in deliberate, industrial-scale distillation campaigns.
illicitly
In a manner that is illegal or not permitted; unlawfully.以非法或未經允許的方式；違法地。
Example:Anthropic alleged that Chinese firms had illicitly extracted capabilities from its Claude chatbot.
jailbreaking
Techniques used to bypass restrictions or safeguards in AI systems to gain unauthorized access or capabilities.用於繞過AI系統限制或安全措施以獲取未經授權的訪問或能力的技术。
Example:These actors use tens of thousands of proxy accounts and jailbreaking techniques to systematically extract proprietary information.
trajectory
The path or course of development over time; a trend or direction.隨時間發展的路徑或過程；趨勢或方向。
Example:The situation unfolds against a backdrop of narrowing US-China AI performance gaps, leaving the trajectory of enforcement uncertain.

Sentence Learning

The memo was issued concurrently with a bipartisan bill in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would establish a process to identify foreign entities extracting key technical features from closed-source US AI models and impose sanctions.
Main clause: "The memo was issued concurrently with a bipartisan bill in the House Foreign Affairs Committee". Relative clause: "that would establish a process to identify foreign entities extracting key technical features from closed-source US AI models and impose sanctions." Within the relative clause, "extracting key technical features..." is a reduced relative clause (present participle) modifying "foreign entities". The infinitive "to identify... and impose" functions as purpose. "would" indicates conditional future.主要子句：「The memo was issued concurrently with a bipartisan bill in the House Foreign Affairs Committee」。關係子句：「that would establish a process to identify foreign entities extracting key technical features from closed-source US AI models and impose sanctions」。關係子句中，「extracting key technical features...」是縮減關係子句（現在分詞）修飾「foreign entities」。不定式「to identify... and impose」表示目的。「would」表示條件式將來。
According to the memo, these actors use tens of thousands of proxy accounts and jailbreaking techniques to systematically extract proprietary information from US AI models, thereby exploiting American innovation.
Adverbial phrase "According to the memo" modifying the main clause. Main clause: "these actors use tens of thousands of proxy accounts and jailbreaking techniques to systematically extract proprietary information from US AI models". Infinitive phrase "to systematically extract..." indicates purpose. Participial phrase "thereby exploiting American innovation" functions as a resultative adjunct, modifying the entire main clause.副詞短語「According to the memo」修飾主要子句。主要子句：「these actors use tens of thousands of proxy accounts and jailbreaking techniques to systematically extract proprietary information from US AI models」。不定式短語「to systematically extract...」表示目的。分詞短語「thereby exploiting American innovation」作為結果狀語，修飾整個主要子句。
Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, noted that distinguishing unauthorized distillation from legitimate data requests is akin to “looking for needles in an enormous haystack.”
Appositive noun phrase "a fellow at the Brookings Institution" provides additional information about the subject "Kyle Chan". Main verb "noted" introduces a that-clause: "distinguishing unauthorized distillation from legitimate data requests is akin to 'looking for needles in an enormous haystack'." The subject of the that-clause is a gerund phrase "distinguishing...". Predicate is "is akin to" followed by a gerund phrase "looking for needles...".同位名詞短語「a fellow at the Brookings Institution」提供主語「Kyle Chan」的補充資訊。主要動詞「noted」引導一個that子句：「distinguishing unauthorized distillation from legitimate data requests is akin to 'looking for needles in an enormous haystack'」。that子句的主語是動名詞短語「distinguishing...」。謂語是「is akin to」後接動名詞短語「looking for needles...」。
The administration indicated it would collaborate with US AI firms to identify such activities, build defenses, and hold offenders accountable.
Main clause: "The administration indicated it would collaborate with US AI firms". "Indicated" is followed by a that-clause (omitted "that"): "it would collaborate...". The infinitive phrase "to identify such activities, build defenses, and hold offenders accountable" expresses purpose. The last infinitive "hold offenders accountable" includes an object "offenders" and an object complement "accountable". The three infinitive verbs are parallel.主要子句：「The administration indicated it would collaborate with US AI firms」。「Indicated」後接省略「that」的子句：「it would collaborate...」。不定式短語「to identify such activities, build defenses, and hold offenders accountable」表示目的。最後一個不定式「hold offenders accountable」包含受詞「offenders」和受詞補語「accountable」。三個不定式動詞並列。
Anthropic acknowledged its legitimate use but argued that unauthorized large-scale extraction allows competitors to acquire powerful capabilities in a fraction of the time and cost of independent development.
Main clause: "Anthropic acknowledged its legitimate use but argued that unauthorized large-scale extraction allows competitors to acquire powerful capabilities in a fraction of the time and cost of independent development." The verb "acknowledged" takes a noun phrase object "its legitimate use". "but argued" introduces a that-clause. In the that-clause: subject "unauthorized large-scale extraction", verb "allows", object "competitors", infinitive complement "to acquire powerful capabilities", and adverbial phrase "in a fraction of the time and cost of independent development" (comparative structure).主要子句：「Anthropic acknowledged its legitimate use but argued that unauthorized large-scale extraction allows competitors to acquire powerful capabilities in a fraction of the time and cost of independent development。」動詞「acknowledged」帶有名詞短語受詞「its legitimate use」。「but argued」引導一個that子句。在that子句中：主語「unauthorized large-scale extraction」，動詞「allows」，受詞「competitors」，不定式補語「to acquire powerful capabilities」，以及副詞短語「in a fraction of the time and cost of independent development」（比較結構）。