US officials threaten to sanction Chinese AI startups after Moonshot release

Artificial intelligenceSurge in popularity of China-origin open-source models spurs anxiety in WashingtonMoonshot AI's latest model, Kimi K3, is said to trail only Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI's ChatGPT-5.6 in terms of performance. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images)CISSY ZHOUJuly 23, 2026 12:00 JSTHONG KONG -- Officials in the Trump administration are threatening sanctions and other actions against Chinese artificial intelligence startups including Moonshot, alleging they are stealing intellectual property from American frontier AI labs.