China Bans Free Travel for Alibaba and DeepSeek AI Stars
Nothing says "we are winning the global tech race" quite like turning your brightest software engineers into high-value prisoners who need government hall passes just to go on vacation.
Chinese authorities have begun requiring key artificial intelligence specialists from private firms to obtain state approval before booking any international flights. The state logic is simple: the biggest technology leaks do not happen through stolen code, but through human brains chatting over beers at Silicon Valley conferences.
Instead of blocking people based on their job titles, the government evaluates individuals. A brilliant senior engineer with no management duties might find their passport effectively frozen, while a non-tech executive travels freely. It is a gray-zone policy: there is no formal law, but trying to board a plane without a green light is out of the question.
This strategy is an extension of old restrictions used for nuclear scientists and military researchers. In 2024, the state quietly advised top AI figures to avoid trips to the United States. By late 2025, the restriction system formally absorbed senior leadership at DeepSeek.
In March 2026, the crackdown hit the startup Manus. Co-founders Xiao Hong and Ji Yichao were summoned by the National Development and Reform Commission and blocked from leaving while regulators investigated a massive $2 billion acquisition deal by Meta.
By May 2026, the travel approval system officially expanded to cover Alibaba and other private tech giants.
Iron cages rarely breed innovation, especially when the entire field relies on open-source collaboration and global peer review. Trying to win a global AI war by locking scientists in a room and pulling the blinds is a brilliant way to ensure they eventually run out of fresh ideas.
Source: Bloomberg
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