China says AI development comes from ‘greater self-reliance and strength’ amid stolen tech claims

China defended the country’s development of artificial intelligence, stating it comes from “greater self-reliance and strength” after a top White House official accused a Chinese startup of improperly using Anthropic’s latest model and accessing restricted Nvidia chips.

Lin Jian, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters on Wednesday the country “opposes politicizing and instrumentalizing trade and tech issues,” as the startup Moonshot AI faces allegations of distilling technology from U.S. frontier labs to develop its latest model, Kimi K3.

“The development of AI in China comes from greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and is fueled by China’s vision of extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit,” Lin said, adding later the politicization “will only stifle global AI advances and serve one.”

In a separate statement to NBC News, Liu Chang, a spokesperson or the Chinese embassy in Washington called the allegations unfounded “smear.”

“The so-called allegation about China ‘stealing’ intellectual property developed by U.S.-based AI and life science startups is entirely unfounded,” he reportedly said. “China has consistently attached great importance to the protection of intellectual property and is committed to safeguarding, in a fair and impartial manner, the lawful rights and interests of both domestic and foreign IP........

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