China Accuses US of Double Standards on AI

Artificial intelligence should not be monopolized by major powers or become an arena for zero-sum competition, China’s state-run People’s Daily said on Wednesday amid growing tensions with Washington ahead of bilateral talks.

The newspaper rejected White House accusations that Chinese companies have engaged in large-scale intellectual property theft from US AI labs. It argued that American companies themselves make extensive use of “distillation”, in which smaller AI models are trained using outputs from larger systems.

Beijing accused Washington of applying a double standard, arguing that the practice is treated as legitimate when used by US companies but as a security threat when used by Chinese firms. The commentary also accused the United States of invoking national security to seek dominance over the AI industry.

China nevertheless said it was willing to engage in constructive talks with Washington aimed at creating an open and non-discriminatory environment for the global development of AI.

(Reuters, max)