China accuses US of hidden agenda to curb its AI industry

China accused the United States of hiding an agenda to stifle its artificial intelligence industry, escalating the technology rivalry between the two nations. The accusation follows calls from US tech executives for slower AI development, which Beijing claims is a strategy to widen the technological gap. US President Donald Trump defended American leadership in AI, dismissing those urging more regulation as "negative forces." Chinese state media suggested that Anthropic founder Dario Amodei's proposal for a slower pace conceals an "hidden agenda" to "strangle" China's progress, potentially through measures like advanced chip export bans. China's State Security Minister Chen Yixin called AI a new arena of "great power rivalry" and urged building security barriers around the technology. Beijing advocates for an "open, inclusive" AI model, while Chinese firms like DeepSeek and Alibaba continue competing with open-source models despite US restrictions.