# China calls Anthropic CEO's AI warnings "fearmongering"

> China's Foreign Ministry called Anthropic CEO Amodei's AI essay "fearmongering" on 14 September.

*Beijing's foreign ministry rejected Dario Amodei's call to maintain chip export curbs on China, a day after state media likened his essay to a Cold War playbook.*

By Behzad Hosseini · WireRead
Canonical: https://wireread.com/news/china-calls-anthropic-ceo-s-ai-warnings-fearmongering

China's Foreign Ministry rejected comments by Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei calling for continued US restrictions on China's AI development, labelling them "fearmongering" at a regular press briefing on Monday 14 September 2026.

Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said "fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance -- which serves no one's interest", according to the [Associated Press via 1News](https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/09/15/china-bristles-at-anthropic-fearmongering-on-its-ai-development/). He said all parties should work together on AI.

The remarks responded to an essay Amodei published on 12 September titled "We Must Pace the Frontier". In it, he argued that US chip export restrictions on China must remain in place and proposed banning "distillation", the practice of Chinese labs training their models on outputs from US systems.

Amodei's essay also warned that "a Chinese lead in AI would pose grave danger for the United States and the world."

State-run Global Times had already criticised the essay a day earlier, describing it as "packed with containment provisions targeting China" and calling it, "in essence, a 'Cold War playbook' for the AI sector," according to [The Korea Times](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/world/20260915/beijing-bristles-at-ai-executives-fearmongering-about-china).

The dispute follows a joint advisory from the FBI, NSA and CISA accusing Chinese AI developers of "aggressive, malicious" efforts to distil capabilities from Claude and GPT models. China's Commerce Ministry called that advisory groundless. Anthropic had also published a threat report on 10 September naming seven Chinese labs over fraudulent accounts.

Presidents Trump and Xi were expected to discuss AI governance at a meeting on 24 September. Trump had separately criticised Amodei's calls for AI guardrails.

## Key takeaways

- Guo Jiakun said fearmongering and confrontation serve no one's interest in AI governance
- Amodei's 12 September essay urged keeping US chip export curbs and banning "distillation" by Chinese labs
- Trump and Xi were expected to discuss AI governance at a meeting on 24 September

## Sources

- [China bristles at Anthropic CEO's 'fearmongering' about its AI development](https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/09/15/china-bristles-at-anthropic-fearmongering-on-its-ai-development/) — Associated Press via 1News, 2026-09-15
- [Beijing bristles at AI executive's 'fearmongering' about China](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/world/20260915/beijing-bristles-at-ai-executives-fearmongering-about-china) — The Korea Times, 2026-09-15