Lawmakers probe growing use of Chinese AI models in U.S. companies

As geopolitical tensions mount over the rollout of AI, U.S. lawmakers are considering how to stem the growing adoption of Chinese AI models by domestic companies.

Artificial intelligence has emerged as a key point in the competition between the US and China, with both countries vying for supremacy in this field.

Chinese models attract interest among US companies because they are cheaper to use while closing the performance gap with their American competitors.

In April, the Trump administration accused Chinese organizations of waging “industrial-scale campaigns” to rip off U.S. AI systems and said it would explore ways to hold foreign actors accountable. Beijing considering blocking overseas access to China’s leading AI models, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The growing adoption of Chinese-made AI models has led to growing calls from US lawmakers for strategies to combat the trend, including an ongoing investigation by two US House Committees.

“The increasing use of Chinese AI models by U.S. companies raises serious concerns,” a State Department spokesperson told CNBC. These “AI models are designed to advance Beijing’s narratives, censor dissidents, and reflect CCP ideology and values.”

A spokesman for the People’s Republic of China’s embassy in the United Kingdom said the country “opposes false claims and malicious smears regarding artificial intelligence development.” They added that “China’s emerging AI sector is built on self-reliance and strength in science and technology.”

The House Homeland Security Committee and the House China Committee said in April they would jointly investigate the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence models developed by China. The first step in the investigation was for the chairmen of these committees to send letters to Cursor. Airbnb for their “use of or exposure to these risks” through artificial intelligence developed in China.

While some government agencies have banned the use of Chinese AI models, including DeepSeek, their adoption by US companies is not prohibited. Tech chiefs including crypto company coinbase‘s Brian Armstrong and AI startup Lindy’s Flo Crivello has publicly touted the use of models from China to reduce costs.

Cursor, which will be purchased by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for $60 billion, built the Composer 2 model using the Chinese artificial intelligence model Kimi developed by Moonshot AI. The company declined to comment on the investigation when contacted by CNBC.

Airbnb told CNBC that its “AI activity operates predominantly on US-based models.” The company added that it “uses a limited number of models of Chinese origin, all of which are open source and operated only by approved US-based service providers, keeping data and operations separate and protected.”

In addition to focusing on the rise of Chinese AI models, the House Committees’ ongoing joint investigation is also investigating whether the United States is doing enough to combat this rise.

“The committees are also examining whether the United States has an adequate vulnerability-heavy AI strategy to ensure that American companies and cyber defenders do not have to choose between expensive or limited U.S. models and cheap, capable alternatives developed by the People’s Republic of China,” a Committee aide who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation told CNBC. he said.

Andy Ogles, chairman of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee, called for a “serious strategy” to ensure American models are a “real alternative” to Chinese models.

“Once the cheap, capable and easy option for an AI model is China, the rest of the world will build on it,” Ogles said in June.

“If we do nothing, Chinese models will become the default foundation of the global digital economy, carrying capabilities distilled from our own laboratories with embedded censorship, unclear security and security guardrails removed,” he added.

The administration may consider using federal procurement bans that include restricting government agencies and private companies serving the U.S. government from using Chinese artificial intelligence models. Kyle Chan, a fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings think tank, told CNBC:

“But banning China’s open-source AI models is ultimately impossible because the model weights are freely available on the internet,” Chan said. he added. “This could fall into first amendment conversation topics.”

The Trump administration is “clearly concerned” about the risks from American companies adopting Chinese AI models, but restricting their use will be difficult, Daniel Remler, senior fellow with the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), told CNBC.

Aside from potential first amendment protections, Remler said the administration may be concerned that “action against Chinese models could harm start-ups that use those models or chill support for open models in general.”

One approach, he added, could be procurement requirements that would deter companies looking to do business with the government from using Chinese AI models. Another would be to disseminate findings about risks and vulnerabilities associated with Chinese AI models to U.S. companies.

“Regardless, I expect both the Executive Branch and Congress to communicate that they do not want to see U.S. companies adopting these models,” Remler said.