Chinese tourists arrive at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Male, Maldives. Chinese authorities have required key personnel working on AI at private companies, along with their families, to obtain government approval before traveling abroad. [Getty Images]
Chinese tourists arrive at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Male, Maldives. Chinese authorities have required key personnel working on AI at private companies, along with their families, to obtain government approval before traveling abroad. [Getty Images]

China has decided to extend overseas travel restrictions — already imposed on top AI specialists at private companies — to their immediate family members. Beijing had previously introduced a permit system for overseas travel to prevent leaks of sensitive information in strategic sectors such as nuclear technology, and it has now expanded that system to cover the AI field.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that spouses and children of executives at certain Chinese AI and chipmaking companies must obtain government approval before traveling abroad, even for short trips. The outlet said the move "could have an additional chilling effect on a tech industry already facing unprecedented regulation."

Earlier this year, China began enforcing overseas travel restrictions on top AI specialists at private companies, including those at Alibaba Group and DeepSeek. Anyone seeking to travel abroad — even briefly — must first obtain permission from Chinese authorities. The restrictions apply to corporate executives, researchers and technology officers.

The latest measure extends those requirements to the immediate families of people already subject to the permit system. Sources who spoke to Bloomberg said government ministries had already notified several individuals that they must seek approval before traveling overseas.

The move is widely seen as an effort to prevent key AI expertise and information from reaching the United States amid an intensifying rivalry between the two countries over AI dominance. Sources told Bloomberg that travel restrictions on AI and chipmaker executives exist because those individuals handle work considered vital to national security — a sign that Beijing views its top AI and technology engineers as strategic national assets.

China has long applied travel restrictions to people working in sectors it considers critical to its competitive edge, along with their families. Researchers at leading universities, nuclear scientists and executives at state-owned enterprises have been subject to permit requirements for years. This year, AI appears to have been added to the list of core industries covered by those rules.


kate01@heraldcorp.com