Chinese military used OpenAI, Anthropic AI outputs to train their defence systems
Chinese military researchers are reportedly using outputs from US-based AI models like OpenAI and Anthropic to train their own defense systems. This practice, known as model distillation, allows them to bypass the need for massive computing resources.
Why it matters
This raises significant national security concerns regarding the proliferation of advanced AI capabilities to geopolitical rivals.
Chinese military researchers have used outputs from leading US artificial intelligence models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic to train domestic AI systems designed to advance China's defence capabilities, according to a Reuters review of more than 80 Chinese academic papers and patents.The previously unreported findings, based on research reviewed by Reuters and material compiled by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, offer a rare look into how Chinese military and security-linked institutions are using advanced US AI models as a shortcut to develop specialised domestic systems despite Washington's efforts to restrict Beijing's access to cutting-edge technologies, including advanced semiconductor chips.According to Reuters, the documents reveal widespread use of model distillation, a technique in which outputs generated by a powerful AI model are used to train smaller, specialised models capable of running locally without the vast computing resources required to build frontier AI systems from scratch.PLA-linked institutions increasingly using model distillationReuters' review, which…
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