Chinese regulators plan to restrict domestic tech and AI firms from accepting U.S. investments without government approval, as part of Beijing's response to Meta's acquisition of Manus in December 2025. Government agencies have told several private firms in recent weeks that they should reject capital of U.S. origin in funding rounds unless explicitly approved, according to Bloomberg sources.
Moonshot AI, StepFun, and ByteDance were among the companies that received these instructions, which sources said are to prevent U.S. investors from taking stakes in sensitive sectors where national security is a priority.
It makes sense, right? The restrictions are tit for tat with rules that the U.S. has towards investing in Chinese tech.
For example, Washington, under the Biden administration, restricted U.S. investment in Chinese semiconductor, quantum computing, and AI companies to prevent American capital from advancing China's military capabilities or giving its tech sector a competitive edge over U.S. rivals. It goes hand-in-hand that China would be cautious about accepting that capital.
While China and the United States might have similar attitudes towards investing in each other's technology, Chinese and American people have very different views on AI.
Only 38% of Americans say AI products make them excited, compared to 84% in China and roughly 80% across Southeast Asia, according to a Stanford University study. Notably, U.S. trust in government AI regulation scored just 31%, the lowest of any country surveyed. Singapore had the highest score of 81%, with Indonesia scoring 76% and Malaysia scoring 73%.