Trump Administration Targets ‘AI Model Theft’, Eyes Crackdown On China

Trump administration targets foreign misuse of US AI, focusing on China, plans safeguards and penalties as Congress backs sanctions. The administration of US President Donald Trump has signalled a tougher stance against what it describes as the misuse of American artificial intelligence technologies by foreign firms, with China at the centre of its concerns. In a policy memo released Thursday, Michael Kratsios accused foreign entities—“principally based in China”—of carrying out large-scale efforts to extract capabilities from US-developed AI systems. The practice, often referred to as “distillation,” involves training smaller models using the outputs of more advanced systems. Kratsios said the…