China is reportedly considering tightening export controls on AI models and chips

According to sources cited by the Financial Times, Chinese regulators are considering tightening export controls on AI and semiconductor technology. The Ministry of Commerce has discussed with AI companies such as Alibaba, ByteDance, and Zhipu about restricting the transfer of key data used for model training overseas, as well as limiting foreign users from downloading model weights. However, China will still allow overseas customers to access these models and services. The Ministry of Commerce is also soliciting opinions from various parties on potential restrictive measures, which would prohibit overseas chip manufacturers like Qualcomm and TSMC from producing advanced semiconductors based on designs developed by companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, and ByteDance.

Sources indicate that most proposals are still under discussion, and regulators are assessing industry feedback before making a final decision.