China's Minister of State Security, Chen Yixin, has issued a stark warning that artificial intelligence poses a serious threat to national security and could ultimately endanger Communist Party rule. In an article for state-run magazine China Cyberspace, he accused "hostile forces" of using generative AI to spread political rumours and wage "cognitive warfare" against China, and called for tighter party control and government oversight of the technology.

Chen described AI as the "main battleground" for global technological competition, highlighting risks from advanced foreign models' hacking capabilities, AI-driven data mining by foreign intelligence agencies, and the potential for deepfakes to be used in propaganda campaigns against Beijing. He also stressed the need for China to secure independent control of core technologies, including advanced chips, and noted AI's growing military significance, citing the US-Iran conflict. The warning comes ahead of a planned meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in Washington this month, where AI governance is expected to feature, and follows separate warnings from Western AI figures, including a researcher's resignation from Anthropic and comments from its chief executive, Dario Amodei, about the "reckless" pace of AI development.