Published On 4/24/2026
The Financial Times reported that the White House accused China – yesterday, Thursday – of engaging in the theft of intellectual property from American artificial intelligence laboratories on an industrial scale.
The newspaper added that the White House “warned that it would take strict measures against a practice that exploits American innovations.”
The report was based on a memo written by Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House.
Kratsios wrote in the memo – which was circulated on social media and published by the Financial Times – that “the US government has information indicating that foreign parties – mainly based in China – are engaged in deliberate campaigns on an industrial scale to extract the capabilities of advanced American artificial intelligence systems.”
“By leveraging tens of thousands of proxy accounts to evade detection, and using jailbreak techniques to expose proprietary information, these coordinated campaigns are systematically extracting capabilities from American AI models, exploiting American expertise and innovation,” he added.
Chinese denial
As for the Chinese embassy in Washington, it said that it opposes the “baseless allegations,” adding that Beijing “attaches great importance to protecting intellectual property rights.”
The memorandum – which was issued just weeks before US President Donald Trump’s expected visit to Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing – portends an increase in tension in a prolonged technological war between the two competing superpowers, the intensity of which has calmed due to a breakthrough achieved last October, according to observers.
Trump will visit Beijing on May 14 and 15, after postponing his visit due to the Iran war, as the White House announced.
White House spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt told reporters that Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart next May, adding that there will be “a corresponding visit in Washington at a later date to be announced this year.”
The memorandum also raises questions about whether Washington will allow the shipment of advanced artificial intelligence chips belonging to the American company NVIDIA to China.
The Trump administration gave the green light for these sales in January, imposing conditions, but US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated – last Wednesday – that no shipments had been made yet.
The memorandum, which is addressed to US government agencies, says that the Trump administration “will consider a set of measures to hold foreign parties accountable” behind these campaigns.
