Moolenaar Supports Trump Administration’s Actions to Stop China’s AI Theft

Today, the White House publicly confronted China on “industrial-scale campaigns” to steal artificial intelligence models. In a memo, Director Michael Kratsios of the Office of Science and Technology Policy said the Trump Administration will work with American companies to coordinate against China’s attacks.

“This announcement complements the work my colleagues and I are doing in Congress to stop China’s AI theft and protect national security. Government and the private sector must work together to stop China’s attacks,” said Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China. “As my committee reported earlier this month, China is deliberately trying to steal AI models, because it is behind us in the race for AI. To keep our advantage over our adversary, I will continue working to pass legislation that modernizes our export controls and restricts China’s access to technology through distillation.”

Yesterday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a package of export control legislation including the Deterring American AI Model Theft Act of 2026, which would establish a process for the U.S. government to deter Chinese AI theft. Chairman Moolenaar is an original cosponsor of the bill.

“The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s bipartisan passage of export control legislation focused on China is a critical step toward strengthening America’s technological edge. It will support President Trump’s vision for American AI dominance and make it harder for the Chinese Communist Party to evade safeguards and exploit gaps in our system,” said Moolenaar yesterday.

Last week, Moolenaar and the Select Committee released “Buy What It Can, Steal What It Must,” detailing how China uses legal and illegal means to build its own semiconductor production and artificial intelligence. The report also documented how China extracts frontier capabilities from American AI developers through industrial-scale fraud.