The Pentagon has added Alibaba, Baidu, electric vehicle maker BYD, and robotics company Unitree to a list of entities it says support China’s military.
The list, known as the 1260H list, was created under a section of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Its expansion raises the possibility of additional restrictions on U.S. companies doing business with the named firms and is likely to add to tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The updated list now contains 188 companies.
Tech giants push back
Both Alibaba and Baidu rejected their inclusion.
“We categorically reject the inclusion of Baidu on the list, and there is no credible justification for adding Baidu to the list,” Baidu said in a statement to TechCrunch.
“The suggestion that Baidu is a military company is entirely baseless. We will not hesitate to use all options available to us to have the company removed from the list.”
Alibaba also disputed the designation.
“It is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy. We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company,” the company told TechCrunch.
More AI and automotive companies added
Several Chinese automotive and battery companies were added this year.
New additions include:
- BYD
- Nio
- CALB Group
- EVE Energy
- RoboSense
RoboSense, a maker of lidar sensors, joins rival Hesai, which had already been placed on the list.
Baidu, meanwhile, is one of China’s leading companies in autonomous vehicles.
Most of China’s major artificial intelligence companies are now included. Tencent was added last year.
List briefly appeared in February
According to Bloomberg News, the latest update to the 1260H list was briefly published in February before being removed from the Federal Register for unexplained reasons.
The list is one of several tools Washington has used to impose restrictions on Chinese technology companies.
President Donald Trump has used tariffs during both of his terms to pressure China, including a 100% tariff on imported Chinese electric vehicles. Trump has also said he is considering whether the United States should take equity stakes in the country’s leading AI companies.
BYD, Nio and RoboSense did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
TL;DR:
The Pentagon has added Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and Unitree to its 1260H list of companies it says support China’s military. The list now contains 188 firms and could lead to tougher restrictions on U.S. business ties.
AI summary
- The Pentagon added Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and Unitree to the 1260H list.
- The updated list now includes 188 companies.
- Alibaba and Baidu denied any links to China’s military.
- Nio, CALB Group, EVE Energy and RoboSense were also added.
- The move comes amid broader U.S.-China trade and technology tensions.
