China will take resolute countermeasures if the United States moves to suppress Chinese artificial intelligence companies under the pretext of combating model distillation, the Ministry of Commerce said late on Wednesday.

The ministry's comments came in response to allegations by US government agencies that "Chinese AI companies systematically mined US models" to train their own systems, a technical process that is known as model distillation.

In a statement, a ministry spokesperson said that the accusations are groundless and legally unsound, calling them a politicization of a normal technical and commercial practice.

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The spokesperson said that model distillation is a common practice through which AI models learn from one another and is widely used by companies around the world, including US businesses.

The technology can improve learning efficiency and facilitate the more effective use of human knowledge, contributing to the development of the AI industry and helping to make its benefits more broadly accessible, particularly to developing countries, the spokesperson added.

"The US approach also reflects a double standard," the spokesperson said, noting that China encourages open-source development and cooperation in AI and that Chinese open-source models are available to companies worldwide.

According to information released by the Ministry of Commerce, some US companies also disclosed that they have extensively used Chinese models for distillation in developing their own models.

The Commerce Ministry statement said China firmly opposes any US suppression and containment of Chinese AI enterprises under the pretext of regulating model distillation, and will take necessary and resolute countermeasures against any harmful US practices.

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Yang Weiyong, an associate professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said that attempts to restrict the practice on national security grounds could raise barriers to technological exchanges, increase development costs and further fragment the global AI innovation ecosystem. He said that such restrictions could also undermine international AI cooperation and slow the broader application of advanced technologies.

Zhao Minghao, a professor and deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that China needs to recognize that Washington increasingly sees technological competition as a strategic contest, particularly in AI and other critical technologies, as it seeks to strengthen its competitive position.

Contact the writers at zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn