Story perspectives

FBI, NSA, CISA Warn Chinese AI Firms of Model Theft

9/10/2026

Center

US Agencies Warn

U.S. Federal agencies—the FBI, NSA and CISA—issued an advisory on Tuesday accusing several Chinese AI companies of systematically stealing capabilities from American models.
The advisory urged U.S. AI providers to tighten user verification, share threat information and limit responses to queries.
DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Alibaba, MiniMax, StepFun and Z.AI were named as alleged perpetrators.
The report said the illicit distillation campaigns have been ongoing since at least late 2024.

Left

US Agencies Warn

The FBI, NSA and CISA issued an advisory accusing Chinese AI firms of industrial-scale theft of U.S. models.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said sanctions and Entity List designations could target firms engaged in covert, industrial-scale IP theft.
China’s Ministry of Commerce rejected claims and warned United States of AI monopoly attempts.
The advisory said the firms conduct high-volume knowledge-distillation campaigns targeting U.S. AI models.

Blindspot

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States would consider sanctions and adding offending Chinese AI firms to the Entity List in response to covert, industrial-scale intellectual-property theft.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Left-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Center-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

In May 2019 the U.S. Commerce Department added Huawei Technologies and 70 affiliates to the Entity List, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and blocking about $5.5 billion in projected U.S. sales. The move built on a May 10 tariff increase on $200 billion of Chinese imports and a broader trade-war climate, creating a precedent that officials now invoke when considering similar restrictions on Chinese AI firms.

1 of 4

US Agencies Warn

U.S. Federal agencies—the FBI, NSA and CISA—issued an advisory on Tuesday accusing several Chinese AI companies of systematically stealing capabilities from American models.
The advisory urged U.S. AI providers to tighten user verification, share threat information and limit responses to queries.
DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Alibaba, MiniMax, StepFun and Z.AI were named as alleged perpetrators.
The report said the illicit distillation campaigns have been ongoing since at least late 2024.

1 / 4