MOFCOM Spokesperson’s Remarks on the U.S. Cybersecurity Advisory Warning of China-Based AI Companies’ Alleged Distillation Campaigns Targeting U.S. AI Models

MOFCOM formally rejected the U.S. joint advisory by the NSA, CISA and FBI that labeled Chinese AI firms' model distillation as 'industrial-scale' campaigns against U.S. frontier models.

China argues distillation — where one AI model learns from another — is a common, neutral technical practice used by model developers worldwide, including U.S. companies, and should not be treated as a security attack.

MOFCOM accused the U.S. of double standards, noting that U.S. companies have themselves reported extensive distillation of Chinese open-source models while Washington singles out Chinese firms.

The statement claims the U.S. is using security agencies to tie private commercial interests to national security, endorsing allegedly unfair user-agreement terms and geographic restrictions imposed by some U.S. AI firms.

Beijing framed the advisory as part of a broader U.S. effort to defend a computing-power and data monopoly, citing repeated U.S. executive and legislative threats of sanctions against Chinese AI companies this year.

China said it is ready for 'constructive and professional' AI talks under the bilateral intergovernmental AI dialogue agreed by both heads of state, but warned it will 'resolutely take countermeasures' if the U.S. suppresses Chinese AI firms under the anti-distillation pretext.