White House tech lead Michael Kratsios wrote in an internal memo in 2026 that malicious exploitation of American AI firms had been occurring primarily by competitor firms in China.

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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI issued a joint warning on October 16, 2026 regarding artificial intelligence-boosted attempts to steal sensitive data from election officials.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI issued a joint warning on October 16, 2026 regarding artificial intelligence-boosted attempts to steal sensitive election data.

U.S. AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI claimed that Chinese AI firms, including Hangzhou-based startup DeepSeek, essentially copied their AI models.

The Department of Homeland Security warned that DeepSeek models pose multiple threat vectors, could produce actionable intelligence on U.S. persons and agencies, and may contain malware or security vulnerabilities.

Prior to the October 19, 2026 federal directive, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Navy had already banned DeepSeek on government-issued devices.

In December 2025, the Federal Communications Commission banned imports of all new Chinese drone models and consumer internet routers.

In July 2026, the Federal Communications Commission voted to prohibit U.S. sales of devices containing key hardware from Chinese firms deemed national security risks.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that using DeepSeek may result in the transfer of sensitive data belonging to U.S. government employees or vendors to the Chinese government.

The Federal Communications Commission scheduled an October 29, 2026 vote on barring all Chinese laboratories from testing electronic devices for the U.S. market, where 82% were tested in 2025.

A July 24, 2026 DHS memo made public on October 19, 2026 directed federal agencies to monitor web traffic flowing in and out of government websites for DeepSeek-related security risks.

On October 16, 2026, the FBI and CISA issued a joint alert warning election officials and the American public to be on guard against artificial intelligence threats ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections.

According to an October 16, 2026 alert from the FBI and CISA, artificial intelligence allows hackers to sharpen rogue emails and text messages to make them look and sound more convincing.

Law firms are actively recruiting government attorneys with expertise in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States due to rising geopolitical tensions and cross-border artificial intelligence investments.

President Donald Trump and task force leaders emphasized that the United States must charge forward on artificial intelligence development to maintain its lead over China.

President Donald Trump rejected joint artificial intelligence development ventures with China, stating that doing so would give away critical secrets that China wants.

The U.S. government is seeking to denaturalize Jinchao Wei, a Chinese-born former U.S. Navy sailor convicted in 2025 of conspiracy to commit espionage and unlawfully exporting technical defense data

The Justice Department is seeking to revoke the citizenship of Ping Li, who pleaded guilty in 2024 to acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government

Wanying Zhang attended Beijing's University of International Relations, graduating around 2014, which the FBI states is closely affiliated with China's intelligence apparatus

Wanying Zhang was charged in federal court with acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government in the United States between June and September 2025 without notifying the U.S. Attorney General

Taiwan's Presidential Office thanked the United States government for protecting Taiwanese citizens