The restrictions mark an escalation in measures intended to safeguard strategically important technologies, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. [1] Advanced AI researchers, executives, startup founders and engineers are among those affected, according to the report.

The government now views top AI talent as a national-security asset, placing them under controls previously reserved for nuclear scientists and senior executives at state-owned enterprises, Bloomberg's sources said. Beijing has neither confirmed nor denied the measures, the report noted. [2]

Details of the Restrictions

The travel curbs expand on existing controls that already applied to certain categories of individuals involved in sensitive technologies, according to Bloomberg's reporting. Multiple government agencies are implementing the restrictions, the sources said, without specifying which agencies are involved. The measures represent an extension of a system previously applied to the nuclear and defense sectors. [1]

Bloomberg's sources stated that the restrictions are not directly connected to last month's blocking of Meta Platforms' proposed $2 billion acquisition of the AI startup Manus. Instead, they form part of a broader policy to stem the flow of critical technology to the West.

Chinese regulators blocked that deal in April, and two Manus executives were reportedly barred from leaving China during a subsequent probe. Bloomberg reported separately last month that regulators have also instructed several private technology firms to reject US investment without government approval. [3] [4]

Broader Context of Technology Controls

The travel restrictions follow a series of other measures China has taken to control key technologies. In two rounds of restrictions last year, Beijing blocked the export of 14 rare earth minerals critical for high-tech military equipment and semiconductors used in AI, according to Bloomberg. China extracts at least 60% of the world's rare earth metals and processes around 90%, providing significant leverage in trade negotiations. [1]

The United States has simultaneously pursued its own restrictions. Republican lawmakers led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced the Guarding American Technology from Exploitation Act to ban foreign researchers from adversarial nations including China from accessing U.S. Department of Energy laboratories. A separate watchdog report identified nearly two dozen Chinese academics at top U.S. universities with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, military-linked institutions or blacklisted companies, conducting sensitive federally funded research in fields including AI and quantum sensing. [5] [6]

U.S. authorities have also charged individuals with smuggling Nvidia AI chips to China in violation of export controls. The co-founder of Super Micro Computer Inc. was charged in March with participating in a scheme to divert approximately $2.5 billion in advanced Nvidia chips to China, according to an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors. [7]