💼 China tightens export controls on AI models
On October 16, 2026, China's MOFCOM and MOST issued Announcement No. 48: amendments to the 'Catalog of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted for Export' are open for comment until November 15. Of 40 items, 23 concern AI — large models, agents, and computing clusters; 14 are proposed for a full ban, 26 for licensing.
🌍 Control shifts for the first time from chips to the models themselves: closed deployment of restricted models abroad now requires a license, as with technology exports. Open-source, API, and SaaS are not affected.
👤 Chinese models via API, SaaS, applications, and open weights remain available as before; risks are only for closed installations on overseas servers. From October 16, pre-registration of export transactions is in effect.
Source 1: https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/xwfb/xwfyrth/art/2026/art_d7661dbf62794345a221404f82a25959.html Source 2: https://tech-insider.org/china-ai-export-curbs-23-technologies-2026/