U.S. Proposes Ban on Chinese AI Models Over IP Theft Concerns on July 29

According to NOWNEWS, the Trump administration has proposed banning Chinese AI models on July 29 over security and intellectual property concerns, citing risks that Chinese AI uses "distillation" techniques to copy American technology.

However, scholars assess the ban will be difficult to enforce. Dai Zhiyan, a researcher at the China Economic Research Institute, told NOWNEWS that while the government can restrict cloud-based access, companies can still download models locally for internal use—comparable to "shutting off a reservoir but having trouble fully disconnecting the pipes." He noted that DeepSeek faced similar restrictions last year yet remained in use by some U.S. enterprises. Experts also warn that companies may overlook backdoor security risks while focusing on inference accuracy and computational cost.