China's Intelligence Chief Warns of AI Risks and Geopolitical Rivalry

China’s top intelligence official has warned of rising national security risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI), calling for robust risk prevention frameworks and stronger global governance of the emerging technology. The call from Chen Yixin, China’s state security minister, comes as Beijing seeks to play a leading role in global AI governance while criticising US restrictions. At the Brics summit in India over the weekend, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed an AI-powered initiative to drive new industrialisation and deepen supply chain cooperation in the emerging economies bloc. Chen underscored Beijing’s view of the technology as a key geopolitical battleground. AI has become “a new arena for strategic rivalry among major powers”, he wrote for China Cyberspace, a journal run by internet watchdog body the Cyberspace Administration of China. The article was published on the journal’s social media account on Sunday. Chen called for maintaining security boundaries while seizing new opportunities as he highlighted the risks of AI development. AI could have a systemic impact on ideological security, he warned, including being “leveraged by hostile forces” to generate rumours and mass-produce harmful information. The technology also posed serious risks to critical information infrastructure, Chen warned, arguing that advances marked by next-generation US-led models such as Anthropic’s Claude Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5-Cyber could significantly lower the technical threshold and costs of executing cyberattacks. “Foreign intelligence agencies are heavily exploiting smart web crawlers, data mining and profiling technologies to harvest sensitive information, including critical state data, business secrets, and personal information,” he wrote.

Chen also cautioned about widespread domestic data leaks caused by careless users processing sensitive information via foreign AI tools. Viral open-source AI agents like OpenClaw had structural vulnerabilities that could allow remote device control and sensitive data leaks, he noted. He further warned of the growing development gap caused by AI monopolies, accusing dominant tech powers of severing the global AI supply chain through methods such as entity lists, tech controls, monopolising industry standards, and building closed-source ecosystems. Although Chen did not name any countries, his comments pointed to the broader US-China power rivalry, where Washington has openly declared that it could not allow China to surpass it on AI development. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned just on Tuesday that if the US lost out in the AI race with China, “nothing else would matter”. As part of a spiralling tech war, the US has imposed restrictions on Chinese industry across multiple fronts, including chip supply, investment, market access limits and talent exchange.

Chen also called for strengthening early-warning mechanisms and public advisories to expose foreign attempts to use AI for spying, theft of state secrets, disinformation campaigns and strategic containment targeting China. The world must “resolutely resist hegemonism, technological barriers, and exclusive blocs”, and set up a “fair and open international AI rules system”, he wrote. China is actively building multilateral platforms for global AI governance. In July, 29 countries – including Russia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Pakistan and Indonesia – signed a landmark agreement in Shanghai to establish the China-backed World AI Cooperation Organisation (Waico). Waico aims to help Global South countries expand technical capacity building and create a worldwide AI governance framework that respects national policy differences.