China’s Jinping government is now increasing strictness on foreign trips of big experts working in the AI sector. According to Bloomberg report, the Chinese government has implemented new rules for many AI experts working in private companies to go abroad. These also include people associated with big companies like Alibaba and DeepSeek. According to the information, Chinese government agencies are keeping a special eye on those who are working on advanced AI technology.
Such people may now have to take approval from the government before traveling abroad. Startup founders, researchers and executives of big companies are included in the scope of these rules. In the past too, China has been imposing travel restrictions on people associated with many important sectors. Researchers from big universities, nuclear scientists and senior officials of government companies already come under such rules. But for the first time, such strictness is also being imposed on people working in private AI companies.
What is the motive behind this decision?
The report says that in China, passports of senior officials of government companies and Communist Party leaders are often kept with the government. But extending this rule to employees of private companies is being considered a different and big step. The government is now not just looking at a person’s position or company, but is also looking at how technically important he is for the country.
Experts believe that China is now considering AI engineers and researchers as strategic assets. After the introduction of Chat GPT, the AI sector in China has grown rapidly and many big tech experts have emerged. However, these strict rules may also affect China’s AI industry. This can make it difficult for companies to recruit good talent and retain them for a long time. Some people believe that the government is interfering excessively in the AI industry.
Chinese AI company had left the country
An AI company named Manus has also been mentioned in the report. This company was started in China, but later shifted to Singapore. After this, controversy increased in China regarding Meta’s deal worth about $2 billion. China started worrying that the country’s technology and talented people were going abroad.
After this, China also increased its strictness on American investment in sensitive tech companies. According to reports, two co-founders of Manus were also prevented from leaving the country during the investigation. However, the Chinese government says that the new travel rules are not directly related to the Manus case.
Also read: How can 3 big decisions taken in the Quad meeting increase China’s tension?
Leave a Reply