“The White House accused China of stealing American AI technology on an industrial scale and warned it will step up crackdowns.”

Michael KratsiosOfficial recordApril 23, 2026Read the original

A memo from the White House science and technology adviser.

Our verdict

True

A White House memo accused entities 'principally based in China' of industrial-scale 'distillation' of US AI models and promised action.

What we found

Michael Kratsios's memo described deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns to extract capabilities from US AI systems and committed the government to work with companies to detect and punish them. China's embassy objected. The claim is accurate.

The evidence

1 of 2 sources support the claim; none contradict it.

Contradict 0Support 1Background 1

Supports the claim
The administration vowed a crackdown on Chinese firms exploiting US AI models. [1]
Background
Defense One explains the distillation method and the memo. [2]

How we checked

We checked the claim against Defense One, NPR. We reviewed 2 relevant sources.

Sources

[1]NPR · Administration crackdown on Chinese firms exploiting U.S. AI models
[2]Defense One · China is stealing AI models, White House says

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