The United States has signaled it could impose sanctions on Chinese developers of open source artificial intelligence (AI) models, accusing them of stealing American intellectual property. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox Business on Tuesday that while the US administration supports open source AI, it does not tolerate intellectual property theft. “If we see, especially, that overseas models are stealing from our great companies, we have the ability to sanction them,” Bessent stated. The comments come amid growing competition between the US and China in the AI sector. Chinese firms have developed low-cost AI models that some US officials claim are built using technology taken without permission from American companies. Open source models allow developers to use and modify code freely, but US officials are concerned that such models may incorporate proprietary technology. The Treasury Secretary’s remarks indicate that the US is prepared to take action to protect its tech industry. No specific sanctions have been announced, and the timing of any potential measures remains unclear. The Biden administration has previously imposed export controls on advanced AI chips to China, but this is the first direct threat of sanctions related to AI models.