Story perspectives

OSTP Warns China’s Industrial-Scale AI Theft Costs $600B

4/24/2026

Summary

Story summary

OSTP warned of an “industrial-scale” AI theft campaign by China before President Donald Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing.
OpenAI and Anthropic reported distillation attacks by Chinese startups DeepSeek, Moonshot and MiniMax.
The OSTP memo said foreign actors use tens of thousands of proxies to strip security and bias safeguards from stolen AI models.
Senator Chuck Grassley presented evidence that Chinese technology theft costs the U.S. economy $400-600 billion annually.

History

Historical Context

The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 was enacted to address the growing threat of foreign theft of trade secrets, particularly impacting major U.S. companies like IBM and Microsoft. This law criminalizes the misappropriation of trade secrets for foreign benefit, reflecting ongoing concerns about intellectual property theft. Today, the estimated $400-600 billion annual cost to the U.S. economy highlights the act's lasting significance in safeguarding innovation.

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Story summary

OSTP warned of an “industrial-scale” AI theft campaign by China before President Donald Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing.
OpenAI and Anthropic reported distillation attacks by Chinese startups DeepSeek, Moonshot and MiniMax.
The OSTP memo said foreign actors use tens of thousands of proxies to strip security and bias safeguards from stolen AI models.
Senator Chuck Grassley presented evidence that Chinese technology theft costs the U.S. economy $400-600 billion annually.

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