China restricts overseas travel for top AI talent at Alibaba and DeepSeek, Bloomberg News reports
Authorities are requiring approval for some AI founders, researchers and executives as Beijing tightens controls to protect sensitive technology and talent.
- China is restricting overseas travel for top AI professionals at private firms including Alibaba and DeepSeek, requiring approval from authorities before embarking on international trips.
- The restrictions escalate longstanding Chinese efforts to safeguard technology following the Manus acquisition, which provoked backlash about technology and talent loss after the firm relocated to Singapore.
- Authorities assess strategic importance to the country rather than relying on job seniority or employer status, while some private sector AI engineers have previously reported overseas travel plans.
- The Financial Times reported authorities barred two Manus co-founders from leaving during an acquisition investigation, though DeepSeek, Alibaba and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology declined to comment.
- Talent retention has become central to China's broader AI development strategy as most Chinese expertise concentrated in tech giants and private startups emerged after ChatGPT's introduction, positioning the country to compete with the US.
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Travel restrictions include founders of start-ups, researchers and executives in the AI area, reflecting the growing perception of the engineers in this sector as strategic assets.
China is further tightening its oversight of the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. According to Bloomberg, it is now restricting foreign travel for selected experts from private technology companies working on advanced AI development. The measures are expected to affect employees of companies such as Alibaba and DeepSeek.
China is imposing restrictions on foreign travel of top professionals in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) in private companies such as Alibaba and DeepSeek, aiming to protect technology considered strategic, informed Bloomberg today. According to sources quoted by the news agency, government agencies have begun to impose restrictions on individuals involved in advanced AI work considered strategically important to the country, requiring …
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