Worried About Security, China Asks AI Boos To Avoid Travel To The United States

JAKARTA - Chinese authorities have instructed businessmen to the country's leading artificial intelligence (AI) researchers to avoid travel to the United States.

Authorities fear Chinese AI experts traveling abroad could divulge classified information about the country's progress, the Wall Street Journal newspaper said.

Chinese authorities are also concerned that company executives could be detained and used as a bargaining chip in US-China negotiations, which is similar to the detention of a Huawei executive in Canada at Washington's request for the first period of Donald Trump's administration.

China's White House and State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to a request for a response from Reuters.

Executives in leading Chinese companies in the AI sector and other strategic sensitive industries, such as robotics, are prohibited from traveling to the US and its allies unless absolutely necessary.

The executives who chose to travel were instructed to report their plans before leaving and, upon their return, notify authorities of what they were doing and who they met, the report said.

The founder of the AI startup from China, DeepSeek, Liang Wenfeng, refused an invitation to attend the AI summit in Paris in February, according to the report.

Another founder of China's major AI startup canceled a trip plan to the US last year following instructions from Beijing.

The US and China are competing in the global AI race, with DeepSek recently launching an AI model it claims to rival or surpass US industry leaders such as OpenAI and Google, at a much lower cost.

In February, President Xi Jinping held a rare meeting with several big names in China's technology sector, urging them to "show their talents" and be confident in the strength of Chinese models and markets.