The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Una Galani

HONG KONG, July 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Beijing may mirror US constraints on Anthropic by limiting foreign access to advanced AI models. Confining $92 bln Zhipu, Moonshot and others to local users and funds would slow their progress. And other countries would be more likely to build their own tech despite the expense.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Chinese authorities held meetings with top tech firms over the past month about potentially restricting overseas access to China's most advanced AI models, including those yet to be released, Reuters reported on July 7 citing three people familiar with the discussions.

Companies present at the talks included Alibaba, ByteDance and Knowledge Atlas, the report added. None of the three companies responded to Reuters queries.

At the meetings, led by China's Ministry of Commerce, participants discussed putting limits on the most advanced AI models — including open-source versions -- and the possibility of implementing new measures to restrict who can fund domestic AI startups, the report said.

In June, Washington ordered that foreign nationals not have access to Anthropic's most advanced Fable and Mythos models. Export controls for Fable, which is designed for the general public, have since been lifted after new safeguards were put in place. But Mythos, designed for cybersecurity professionals, is still only available to some "trusted" U.S. organisations.