US Evaluates Chinese AI for Ideological Alignment

American officials are assessing Chinese AI programs to see if their outputs align with the Chinese Communist Party's official stance. This evaluation underscores the ongoing competition between the U.S. and China in AI development. Models are scrutinized for ideological biases, with potential global implications.

In a bid to understand the influence of ideology in artificial intelligence, American officials are quietly assessing Chinese AI programs on their alignment with the Chinese Communist Party's official line, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters. This effort is a collaborative project between the U.S. State and Commerce Departments, aiming to determine how Chinese AI models align their outputs with Beijing's narratives.

These evaluations mark an intensified rivalry between the U.S. and China over the dominance in AI technology, particularly large language models, which play a crucial role in global narratives. A State Department official hinted at possibly making these findings public to highlight the geopolitical implications of ideologically biased AI tools.

As per the memo, recent testing of models like Alibaba's Qwen 3 and DeepSeek's R1 revealed a strong adherence to Beijing's viewpoints, particularly on contentious issues like the South China Sea. The memo also noted a heightened level of censorship in new iterations of these models, raising concerns about the increasing ideological influence of AI creators akin to recent controversies surrounding Elon Musk's xAI chatbot.

(With inputs from agencies.)