China rejects US AI distillation accusations

The US accuses Chinese AI companies of carrying out aggressive distillation on an industrial scale. China rejects the accusation, saying it is unsupported by evidence and has no legal basis.

Even some American researchers question the US narrative. Researchers including OpenAI executive Dean Ball believe that distillation may have given Chinese companies a boost early in the AI race, but it is not the main reason behind their recent breakthroughs.

Ultimately, the real debate in the China-US AI competition may not be about distillation at all. It may be about two competing visions for AI: an inclusive, open-source ecosystem or a closed system built around technological hegemony.