China tells its AI leaders to avoid US travel over security concerns

The authorities are concerned that Chinese AI experts traveling abroad could divulge confidential information about the nation’s progress. They also worry that executives could be detained and used as a bargaining chip in U.S.-China negotiations, in an echo of a fight over a Huawei executive held in Canada at Washington’s request during the first Trump administration.

AI has become the latest technology battleground between the U.S. and China, symbolized by the emergence of Chinese AI models from the likes of DeepSeek and Alibaba. They are challenging U.S. leaders including OpenAI and Google, and Beijing is increasingly pressuring its entrepreneurs in leading-edge fields to hew close to state interests.

The result is to drive a further wedge between the technology communities in the two countries, already divided by U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports imposed during the Biden administration and tariffs dating to the first Trump administration.

As China seeks to build an economic fortress in an era of growing geopolitical tensions, the nation’s leaders want its technology industry to become more self-sufficient.

People in the tech industry said there was no outright ban on travel but rather guidance from authorities in China’s biggest technology hubs including Shanghai, Beijing and Zhejiang, a province next to Shanghai where Alibaba and DeepSeek are based.

These authorities are discouraging executives at leading local companies in AI and other strategically sensitive industries such as robotics from traveling to the U.S. and U.S. allies unless it is urgent, the people said. Executives who choose to go anyway are instructed to report their plans before leaving and, upon returning, to brief authorities on what they did and whom they met.

DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng turned down an invitation to attend an AI summit in Paris that took place in February, people familiar with the matter said. Last year, the founder of another major Chinese AI startup scrapped his plan to visit the U.S. after instructions from Beijing, some of the people said.

Trump met with Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma in New York in 2017.

On Feb. 17, Beijing summoned the country’s most prominent businesspeople for a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who reminded attendees to uphold a “sense of national duty" as they develop their technology. The audience included DeepSeek’s Liang and Wang Xingxing, founder of humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics.

For Chinese entrepreneurs, public association with the U.S. or prominent Americans could trigger scrutiny from the authorities or irritate the government by suggesting they are going against official policies.

The risks of upstaging Beijing were illustrated by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, who met President Trump early in 2017 just before Trump was inaugurated for his first presidential term. Trump praised Ma as a “great entrepreneur." The meeting, coming before top Chinese officials had a chance to meet the president-elect, raised some eyebrows. Years later, Beijing clamped down on Ma and his tech empire.

Still, in many parts of the tech world, interaction between U.S. and Chinese executives continues. Chinese companies including Unitree were out in force at the annual CES tech event in Las Vegas in January.

Xiaomeng Lu, who analyzes emerging technologies at Eurasia Group, said Chinese authorities could be worried about losing China’s homegrown technology through buyouts or licensing by American firms. Another concern is losing talent, since many wealthy Chinese have moved overseas in recent years, she said.

“For the tech sector, brain drain can have a devastating effect on a country," she said. “The initial signal is: Stay here, don’t run away."

A test of how much interaction on AI is still possible will come this summer, when China will hold its own AI summit. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he welcomed participation from people from around the world.

Write to Yoko Kubota at yoko.kubota@wsj.com