Leaks and backdoors: China warns of security risks in relay services for foreign AI models

China’s national security authority has warned of risks in using “artificial intelligence relay services” that provide access to overseas AI models, highlighting concerns over data leaks, privacy breaches and unauthorised cross-border data transfers amid a thriving grey market for restricted foreign systems. In a notice on its official WeChat account on Monday, the Ministry of State Security (MSS) described such services as intermediaries between local developers and AI provi