China’s fast AI rollout is reshaping white-collar work and drawing scrutiny as OpenAI bans China-linked ChatGPT accounts tied to U.S. influence campaigns and Washington expands pressure on major Chinese firms.
China is moving quickly to deploy artificial intelligence in everyday business use, with speakers at the 2026 HKEX Future Tech Summit in Shenzhen saying the country has moved ahead of the United States in real-world adoption. The shift is reshaping office work as companies trim graduate hiring, cut some roles and move tasks once handled by analysts, writers and assistants to AI systems. The backdrop is also becoming more tense: the U.S. Department of Defense added Alibaba, Baidu and BYD to its “1260H” list of firms it says are tied to China’s military, while OpenAI said it banned two sets of China-linked ChatGPT accounts used in influence campaigns targeting U.S. audiences and debate around tariffs and data centers.