US State Dept orders global warning about alleged AI thefts by DeepSeek, other Chinese firms

The US State Department has ordered a global push to bring attention to what it says are widespread efforts by Chinese companies, including AI startup DeepSeek, to steal intellectual property from U.S. artificial intelligence labs, according to a diplomatic cable seen by Reuters.

The cable, dated Friday and sent to diplomatic and consular posts around the world, instructs diplomatic staff to speak to their foreign counterparts about “concerns over adversaries’ extraction and distillation of U.S. A.I. models.”

“A separate demarche request and message has been sent to Beijing for raising with ‌China,” the document ⁠states.