The White House has accused Chinese companies of stealing American artificial intelligence technology on an industrial scale, a charge that signals a significant escalation in the technological rivalry between the world’s two largest economies. In an internal memorandum, Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, asserted that foreign entities, principally based in China, are systematically exploiting US firms through a technique known as ‘distillation’ — effectively copying the capabilities of advanced AI models by training new systems on their outputs. The administration says it possesses fresh evidence of these campaigns and intends to work more closely with American AI companies to counter them. Viewed from Washington, the memo is the most direct official denunciation yet of Chinese practices that have long been rumoured in the industry, albeit one that stops short of announcing new sanctions.

On Capitol Hill, the political momentum for tighter controls is accelerating. The House Foreign Affairs Committee this week advanced a bipartisan package of export control bills designed to close loopholes that allow Chinese access to powerful American technology, including Nvidia’s semiconductor chips. The legislative push reflects a growing appetite in Congress for action even as the Trump administration has held back on imposing significant new restrictions. Industry stakeholders and the White House have already raised objections to potential limits on chip-tool shipments, warning of unintended economic consequences. Yet lawmakers from both parties appear determined to craft incentive programmes and raise civil penalties for export violations, in part as a response to what they see as an inadequately enforced status quo.

Beijing has rejected the allegations with characteristic firmness. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington insisted that China’s AI development is the result of its own dedication, effort and international cooperation. In a separate but related episode, OpenAI — the creator of ChatGPT — formally accused the Chinese startup DeepSeek in February of clandestinely distilling its models, a practice that is legal only with explicit permission. These accusations, set against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tension, are unlikely to derail China’s AI ambitions; analysts in London note that distillation is widespread in the global AI community and difficult to police, especially when carried out via thousands of proxy accounts to evade detection.

Looking ahead, the White House memo and the congressional bills together represent a coordinated effort to reframe the narrative of the AI race from one of competition to one of theft. The Kremlin-controlled press, reporting through Russian media, has echoed the US claims while casting them as a pretext for deeper tech decoupling. The real test will come when Washington attempts to translate rhetoric into enforcement. With generative AI evolving faster than laws can be written, and with both Washington and Beijing pouring state resources into the sector, the coming months will reveal whether the United States can secure its technological edge without fracturing the global research ecosystem that made the current boom possible.