China’s intelligence chief warns AI advances could threaten political stability, national security

China’s top intelligence official has warned that rapid advances in artificial intelligence could threaten political stability, national security and critical infrastructure, as concerns over the risks of increasingly powerful AI systems grow worldwide.

State Security Minister Chen Yixin said the misuse of AI by hostile forces could directly threaten China’s political, institutional and ideological security. His comments were published on Sunday in China Cyberspace magazine, which is managed by the Cyberspace Administration of China.

Chen’s warning comes days after the heads of OpenAI and Anthropic called for greater safeguards and a more measured approach to developing increasingly powerful AI systems. However, Chen’s article did not mention those calls or suggest that the developments were linked.

Deepfakes and AI-powered disinformation

One of Beijing’s biggest concerns is the use of AI to manipulate public opinion.

Chen warned that deepfakes, AI-generated text and images, and automated social media accounts could be used by hostile forces to spread political rumours, circulate false information and deepen social divisions.

He described these activities as “public-opinion wars” and “cognitive warfare”, warning that they could pose a direct risk to China’s political and ideological security.

AI could also make cyberattacks easier and more powerful, Chen said. Advanced AI systems can help identify weaknesses in computer networks and create software designed to exploit those weaknesses.

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That could reduce the expertise and resources needed to launch sophisticated cyberattacks, increasing the risks to critical infrastructure and other sensitive systems.

Chen also raised concerns over AI-powered web crawlers, data-mining tools and profiling systems. Such technologies could make it easier for foreign intelligence agencies to collect sensitive information, including government data, trade secrets and personal information.

AI race becomes a security issue

Chen also warned that countries with an advantage in AI could use national security as a reason to impose technology restrictions, control industry standards and develop closed AI ecosystems.

The comments reflect Beijing’s broader concerns about technological sovereignty as China competes with the US for leadership in advanced AI, semiconductors and computing infrastructure.

The rivalry has already expanded beyond AI models to chips, data, computing power and technology standards.

Chen identified several other risks from AI, including disruption to social governance and changes to military operations. He called for stronger monitoring and regulation of AI risks while also urging China to continue investing in AI, computing infrastructure and data resources.

Silicon Valley voices similar concerns

Chen’s warning comes as leading US technology executives are also raising concerns about the speed of AI development, although their focus is different.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently argued that AI capabilities are advancing faster than safety measures. He called on AI companies to “pace the frontier” so that safeguards can keep up with increasingly capable systems.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backed the idea of independent evaluators being given access to AI systems to assess safety measures.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also called for AI development to remain under human control and warned against allowing power over the technology to become concentrated in the hands of a few entities.