Story perspectives

U.S. warns Chinese AI firms copied models via distillation

By Drooid · Sep 12, 2026, 2:39 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

U.S. officials accused Chinese AI firms, including DeepSeek and Alibaba, of maliciously copying U.S. models via industrial-scale distillation.
The NSA, FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory on September 8 warning of the threat.
U.S. officials said the practice could boost China’s military and cyber-attack capabilities.
China’s Ministry of Commerce called the advisory baseless and described distillation as a normal technique.

1 of 1

Story summary

U.S. officials accused Chinese AI firms, including DeepSeek and Alibaba, of maliciously copying U.S. models via industrial-scale distillation.
The NSA, FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory on September 8 warning of the threat.
U.S. officials said the practice could boost China’s military and cyber-attack capabilities.
China’s Ministry of Commerce called the advisory baseless and described distillation as a normal technique.