The Washington Post, citing more than a dozen industry insiders, reports that China is intensifying efforts to prevent AI startups from moving talent and technology overseas. Beyond the already-public investigation into Manus AI, authorities have directly warned another AI company, MiroMind, not to relocate core talent and research results out of China.
MiroMind's parent company, Shanda Group, and its founder, Chen Tianqiao, were recently cautioned by Chinese regulators not to move AI resources out of the country, though no formal investigation into MiroMind has been launched. MiroMind claims its headquarters is in Redwood City, California, with a joint R&D center in Singapore, but most of its early research was done in China. In January, the company asked employees to leave China.
Dai Jifeng, an associate professor at Tsinghua University who previously served as MiroMind's chief scientist, confirmed to the Post that he left the company because Shanda Group required AI researchers to relocate to Singapore or Japan — a condition he could not accept. MiroMind is currently raising funds in the United States, has no employees left in China, and plans to rename its product MiroThinker to downplay its Chinese origins.