Trump-Xi summit: US to confront China over AI 'distillation' of American tech

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting in Washington, where artificial intelligence is a key point of contention, with US officials expected to confront China over allegations that its firms use "distillation" to replicate American AI models. Major US AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic accuse Chinese firms of using distillation—a technique that trains smaller models on outputs from larger ones—to copy proprietary systems without permission, a practice they say violates terms of service. The issue gained prominence after Chinese startup DeepSeek released a high-performing model, prompting accusations of unauthorized copying. Distillation itself is a legal and common efficiency technique, and US courts have not definitively ruled on whether its unauthorized use constitutes trade-secret theft. The dispute is part of a broader US-China rivalry over chips, computing power, and AI standards, with both sides seeking to balance technological competition against potential dialogue on AI governance.