These allowed the three labs to siphon off capabilities they had not independently developed at a fraction of the cost – and in so doing circumvented export controls on powerful US technology intended to preserve American dominance in AI.
The company argued the practice posed national security risks, saying models built through illicit distillation are unlikely to retain safety guardrails designed to prevent misuse – such as restrictions on helping develop bioweapons or enabling cyberattacks...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/23/us-ai-anthropic-china
