Chinese Researchers Used OpenAI, Anthropic Models To Train Domestic AI: Report
A Reuters investigation reveals that Chinese military-linked researchers are using 'model distillation' to extract reasoning capabilities from US-developed AI models like OpenAI's GPT and Anthropic's Claude. By training smaller, domestic systems on the outputs of these frontier models, Chinese institutions aim to bypass US export controls and enhance their own defense and surveillance capabilities.
Why it matters
This practice highlights a significant loophole in US efforts to restrict China's access to advanced AI technology, potentially accelerating China's military modernization despite hardware-focused sanctions.
Chinese military researchers have used outputs from leading US artificial intelligence models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic to train domestic AI systems to advance China's defence capabilities, according to a Reuters review of more than 80 Chinese academic papers and patents.The previously unreported findings offer a rare glimpse into how military and security-linked institutions in China are leveraging cutting-edge US AI models as a shortcut to developing specialised systems of their own, despite Washington's efforts to restrict Beijing's access to advanced chips and other strategic technologies.The documents show widespread use of a technique known as "model distillation," in which outputs from a powerful AI system are used to train smaller, specialised models that can be deployed locally without the enormous computing requirements needed to build frontier AI systems from scratch.Reuters' review, which included research compiled by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation and shared exclusively with the news agency, showed distillation is…
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