China’s 23 AI Export Checks Exempt Public Work

In an October 16 notice, China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology proposed adding 40 technologies, including 23 AI entries, to the country’s catalogue of technologies prohibited or restricted from export. They opened consultation through November 15, 2026, and made pre-export registration effective immediately for covered transfers. Technology already in the public domain through open source, academic publication or similar means is outside the notice’s stated management scope.

The proposed catalogue covers large models, AI agents, computing clusters and information processing; its proposed bans and restrictions have yet to be finalized. An Associated Press report describes a proposed restriction for models with at least 2 trillion parameters and quotes a commerce-ministry spokesperson calling the move “necessary” on national-security grounds. For now, the immediate requirement is to register qualifying technology transfers before export.

Which AI technology is on the draft list?

The ministries group the AI entries into four broad areas. The subject is technology transferred abroad, so each entry’s technical definition matters more than the general label attached to it.

Large models: The proposal reaches core technology behind advanced models. It distinguishes technology associated with models trained on sensitive national data from other model technology that could face restrictions under the draft.
AI agents: The list includes agent technology, with particular attention to systems intended for sensitive settings such as national defense or critical information infrastructure.
Computing clusters: AI computing-cluster technology is named as an area for possible controls. The proposed check concerns the specified technology being exported, rather than every use of computing capacity.
Information processing: This is the fourth named area. Proposed AI entries also include autonomous malicious-code generation and AI-assisted vulnerability discovery, activities the ministries identify as security concerns.

Some additions are proposed for prohibition and others for restriction. A prohibited entry would bar a covered technology export; a restricted entry would put it under an approval route. The consultation may change the final scope, technical thresholds and treatment of particular transfers. The wider proposal also reaches biomedicine and solar technology, but those are separate from the AI entries.

Registration is already in force

Exporters must register before exporting technology listed in the notice’s annexes, from the date of the announcement until a revised catalogue formally takes effect. The interim rule also covers a qualifying export that began before the announcement but has not been completed. Registration therefore applies during the consultation, even though the proposed catalogue classifications are still being reviewed.

The listed transactions include transferring technology ownership abroad, licensing domestic technology for overseas use, and a change that places the owner or actual controller of domestic technology under a foreign entity. The ministry can also identify other transactions requiring registration. These provisions focus on the transfer of technology or control over it, which is a narrower question than whether an overseas user can receive an answer from an AI service.

A filing calls for basic information about the exporter and recipient, the destination, the technology and its intended use, and the expected value of the export. Multiple technologies going to the same recipient in a single transaction may be entered together; other transfers generally need separate entries. Registration records a covered export during the interim period. It does not, by itself, turn every listed technology into a finally prohibited export.

Why an existing publication is treated differently

The public-domain exception turns on disclosure that has already occurred. An open-source release or academic paper can put the relevant technology outside the notice’s management scope when that technology has entered the public domain. Publishing a paper about a model does not necessarily make its undisclosed weights or private implementation know-how public; the wording attaches to the technology that has actually been disclosed.

A planned release has a different status. The commerce ministry’s explanation describes automatic licensing and other simplified procedures for certain AI technology exports connected with open-sourcing. It also identifies overseas computing centers operated by Chinese companies, chip tape-outs abroad, joint research using overseas resources and international standards work as circumstances eligible for facilitation. That creates a distinction between technology already available to the public and a new cross-border transfer intended to make technology public.

The proposed rules also distinguish model access from moving restricted technology abroad. API calls, interactions through apps or websites, software services and lightweight local deployment are described as outside the large-model technology-export rules. Overseas local deployment that transfers restricted technology falls within them, although deployment on a company’s own overseas cloud may qualify for simplified licensing.

What the consultation may change

The ministries are seeking comments on the proposed technologies’ scope, technical indicators, control policies and facilitation measures. Those details will determine how the final catalogue treats specific models, agents and other AI technologies. Comments close on November 15, 2026; until a revised catalogue takes effect, the temporary registration requirement remains the operative check for covered transfers.