OpenAI and Google supplied AI services to Chinese tech affiliates

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OpenAI and Alphabet's Google confirmed they supplied advanced artificial intelligence services to Singapore-based subsidiaries of Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, even though the parent companies appear on the Pentagon's 1260H list, the Financial Times reported. The transactions remain lawful under current U.S. rules because those rules do not broadly bar Chinese-headquartered firms from using advanced AI models outside mainland China, but the disclosures have intensified calls in Washington for tighter export controls. OpenAI said it blocks direct access from mainland China, suspended Alibaba-linked API access after detecting possible distillation and notified the U.S. government, while Anthropic has adopted a stricter ban on Chinese-owned access.

Major US AI providers served affiliates despite Pentagon blacklist listings