Chinese authorities are advising the nation’s leading artificial intelligence entrepreneurs and researchers to avoid traveling to the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Authorities reportedly fear that these experts could inadvertently reveal sensitive information regarding China’s advancements in the field. They also express concerns that executives could be detained and used as a bargaining chip in the ongoing U.S.-China negotiations. This situation echoes the detention of a Huawei executive in Canada at the request of the U.S. during the Trump administration.
The U.S. and China are deeply engaged in a global competition to lead in artificial intelligence. The Chinese startup DeepSeek recently introduced AI models that it claims are competitive with, or even surpass, those of U.S. industry leaders like OpenAI and Google, at a substantially lower cost.
The White House and China’s State Council Information Office, which handles media inquiries for the government, have not yet commented on the report.
On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed a meeting of top Communist Party officials, emphasizing the need to enhance China’s overall security, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, according to a report by China’s state broadcaster. “We should give top priority to defending the country’s political security,” Xi stated to the other members of the governing Politburo.
Last month, President Xi met with key figures from China’s technology sector, encouraging them to utilize their abilities and to have confidence in China’s approach and market strength. Chinese executives who do choose to travel are now instructed to report their plans before leaving and, upon return, to brief authorities on their activities and contacts, the Journal’s report indicated.
DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, for example, reportedly declined an invitation to attend an AI summit held in Paris in February. Additionally, another founder from a major Chinese AI startup canceled a planned trip to the U.S. last year following instructions from Beijing.
