White House memo claims mass AI theft by Chinese firms

The White House will work more closely with US artificial intelligence (AI) firms to combat 'industrial-scale campaigns' by foreign actors to steal advances in the technology. Michael Kratsios, Director of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in an internal memo that foreign entities, principally based in China, are exploiting American firms through 'distilling', essentially copying AI technology developed by US companies. The White House plans to share more information with US AI companies about tactics employed and actors involved, better coordinate with companies to fight the attacks, develop best practices to identify and mitigate them, and explore holding foreign actors accountable. China's US embassy representative responded, stating that China's development is the result of its own dedication and effort, as well as international cooperation. Distillation campaigns involve firms operating thousands of individual accounts to 'jailbreak' or expose information about AI models, which is then used to build and train their own AI models. Kratsios warned that foreign entities building their AI capabilities on such fragile foundations should have little confidence in the integrity and reliability of the models they produce.