AI is not a ‘monopoly of great powers’, China’s top newspaper says
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The White House earlier in 2026 accused China of stealing US artificial intelligence labs’ intellectual property on an industrial scale.
PHOTO: AFP
- China's People’s Daily states AI is not a monopoly of great powers and urges US-China cooperation to create a fair development environment.
- The US accuses China of IP theft in AI, but China highlights double standards over AI model distillation practices.
- China supports open-source AI development and is open to constructive talks with the US for inclusive global AI progress.
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BEIJING – AI is not a “monopoly of great powers” and the US should work with China to manage risk to create a non-discriminatory development environment, China’s top newspaper, the People’s Daily, said in a commentary on Sept 16.
The US and China are the two major driving forces of frontier AI development and the technology’s global adoption. Both superpowers have been at loggerheads over AI policies and industry practices, with these issues slated to feature prominently in bilateral talks next week.
The White House earlier in 2026 accused China of stealing US artificial intelligence labs’ intellectual property on an industrial scale.
AI is a new domain for human development and China encourages open-source and open practices, providing companies, including from the US, access to open-source models, the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily wrote in a commentary.
“Artificial intelligence is a new domain for human development, not a monopoly of great powers, and must not become an arena for zero-sum competition,” said the commentary published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng”, meaning “Voice of China” and often used to give views on foreign policy.
Reports disclose that US companies extensively “distill” Chinese models, it added.
“According to US logic, when American enterprises use distillation it is an ‘industry standard practice’, while when Chinese enterprises apply it, it constitutes an ‘attack’. This is naked double standards,” the paper said.
Distillation is the process of training smaller AI models using the output of larger ones as part of an effort to lower the costs of training a powerful new AI tool.
By elevating an industry standard practice to a national security issue, the US seeks a monopoly over the industry under the guise of combating distillation, the commentary added.
However, China is willing to engage in “constructive and professional” discussions with the US to advance the open, inclusive, universal, and beneficial development of AI, it said. REUTERS