China warns AI executives over US travel

Chinese national flags flutter near Tian'anmen Square
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VCG via Reuters Connect
Beijing is warning top artificial intelligence leaders – including researchers and corporate leaders – to avoid traveling to the United States owing to security concerns, according to a report published Saturday by the Wall Street Journal. Chinese officials reportedly fear that their AI experts could divulge important information about the country’s technological progress or even be detained and used as leverage in US-China negotiations.There’s no official travel ban, but rather warnings from officials in the technology hubs of Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang province. The travel advisory comes weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with top AI leaders in February and urged them to maintain a “sense of national duty” in developing technology.

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