China has expanded restrictions on foreign travel for leading artificial intelligence specialists to prevent the leakage of important knowledge to the United States. Bloomberg reports, as cited by UNN.
According to people familiar with the matter, government agencies have recently begun informing affected individuals about broader restrictions, including prominent startup founders as well as executives of strategically important companies in fields related to artificial intelligence. According to sources, immediate family members, such as the spouses and children of certain executives in the artificial intelligence and chip sectors whose work is considered critical to national security, are now required to obtain permission from Beijing before traveling abroad, even for short trips
The expansion of the restrictions is a continuation of Beijing's policy of controlling the departure of leading technology specialists. Earlier this year, China already restricted foreign travel for some artificial intelligence specialists from private companies, including Alibaba and DeepSeek. According to the publication, Beijing plans to gradually expand the list of people subject to the restrictions. Several individuals have already been informed of the need to obtain permission for family trips.
As the publication notes, China is also separately introducing rules that took effect on September 15 to ensure compliance with exit bans in cases ranging from criminal investigations to potential violations of the country's industrial and technological security.
According to available information, similar restrictions had previously been applied to prominent researchers, scientists, and executives of state-owned companies. Beijing is now also focusing on specialists in the private technology sector who are considered important to the development of artificial intelligence and the production of microchips.
It should be recalled
The United States and China agreed to establish a "hotline" for artificial intelligence incidents. They also agreed on trade arrangements and new meetings between the leaders.