alibaba3 articles
A US Government Website Was Running Alibaba's AI While the FBI Called It a Security Threat
The US National Archives briefly deployed an Alibaba Qwen AI model on the Federal Register website, drawing criticism given that the FBI had recently labelled such Chinese AI models as "malicious" and accused Alibaba of illegally copying US frontier models. The tool was quietly removed after social media users flagged the contradiction, though security experts noted it likely posed minimal risk, as it only handled already-public data and did not share information with Alibaba. The incident has reignited broader debate about whether US agencies and businesses should be permitted to use open-source Chinese AI models, with some lawmakers insisting they should be banned outright while business groups warn that restrictions could put the US at a competitive disadvantage.
NSA, FBI and CISA Accuse Chinese AI Firms of Systematic Model Distillation at Industrial Scale
The NSA, FBI, and CISA have jointly accused several Chinese AI companies — including DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Moonshot AI — of conducting large-scale "distillation" of US AI models, allegedly extracting their capabilities in violation of terms of service by routing requests through proxies and third-party aggregators to avoid detection. The agencies claim distillation is central, not incidental, to these companies' AI development strategies, and that the Chinese government is likely aware of the activity. In response, the agencies recommend that US AI providers implement measures to detect and disrupt such campaigns, including subtly altering responses to suspected distillation attempts.
EU hits AliExpress with €550m DSA fine for failing to stop illegal goods
The European Commission has fined AliExpress €550 million — the largest ever penalty under the Digital Services Act — for failing to adequately prevent illegal and counterfeit products from being sold on its platform. The Commission found multiple failings, including ineffective illegal product detection, poor enforcement of trader penalties, and inadequate assessment of how its recommendation systems spread dodgy goods. The fine, significantly below the maximum possible penalty of nearly $9 billion, is part of broader European efforts to regulate cheap Chinese e-commerce platforms alongside newly introduced customs fees targeting low-cost imports.