(Sept 28): China has expanded overseas travel restrictions for top artificial intelligence (AI) professionals in private firms to include the families of key personnel, further tightening measures designed to prevent the outflow of critical know-how and information to the US.

Government agencies have recently begun to share the wider restrictions with affected people, which include prominent start-up founders as well as the heads of strategically important companies in AI-related fields, people familiar with the matter said. Direct relatives such as spouses and children of certain AI and chip executives, whose work is considered paramount to state security, are now required to obtain approval from Beijing before going abroad even for short trips, the people said.

That marks a broadening of existing curbs on the freedom of movement of China’s most influential tech talent — a category that encompasses entrepreneurs, researchers and executives. While not an outright ban on travel, the new requirement is likely to exert a further chilling effect on a tech sector already facing unprecedented curbs. China has restricted foreign travel for top AI professionals in private firms such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and DeepSeek since earlier this year, Bloomberg News reported in May, reflecting Beijing’s determination to safeguard its technology as it makes big strides in AI and chipmaking.

It’s unclear whether all those people’s families need to follow the new strictures, the people said. China is also separately implementing rules, which became effective Sept 15, for enforcing exit bans in cases ranging from criminal investigations to potential violations of the country’s industrial and technological security.

Beijing’s plan is to add relevant individuals to the list as time goes by, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a sensitive issue. Government departments have already notified several people of the need to clear family travel, two of the people said.

Beijing has for years imposed travel restrictions on key personnel from prominent college researchers to nuclear scientists and executives at state firms, and their families are similarly affected. 

But the government is now specifically targeting talent within the private sector, as elite AI and technology engineers are considered strategic assets to the world’s second-largest economy. Much of China’s pool of top-flight AI talent emerged in the post-ChatGPT era — and mostly at the country’s tech giants or private start-ups. 

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology didn’t respond to a faxed request for comments.

Chinese officials’ fear of a potential outflow of key technology and talent intensified after Meta Platforms Inc’s US$2 billion (RM8.17 billion) acquisition of Manus. 

The government eventually ordered the US firm to unwind the deal. As part of the fallout, Beijing moved to limit US investment in sensitive technology firms.

While the plan to restrict AI personnel’s movements isn’t necessarily linked to the Manus saga, guarding against technology leaks remains a key policy goal, Bloomberg News previously reported. Such a policy may force engineers with global ambitions to choose between staying home or going abroad earlier in their careers.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee