China's ministry using AI to track American spies in Beijing

In a recent revelation, China’s premier intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has harnessed the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to surveil and track American spies and other foreign operatives in Beijing’s embassy district.

This development highlights the escalating Cold War-style competition between the MSS and the CIA.

Formerly overshadowed by Chinese military intelligence units, the MSS has risen to prominence, amalgamating the missions of foreign surveillance akin to the CIA and domestic counterintelligence akin to the FBI.

With significant resources at its disposal, the MSS now employs AI and facial recognition technology to compile instantaneous profiles on individuals of interest, monitoring their movements, contacts, and identifying potential vulnerabilities, as reported by the New York Times, citing US officials and an informed source.

China’s advanced spy-tracking program highlights the crucial role of technology in the intensifying rivalry between the MSS and the CIA.

Yun Sun, Director of the China program at the Stimson Center in DC, noted that China has increasingly embraced technological espionage, exploiting existing technologies and trade secrets. Simultaneously, the CIA has shifted focus towards gathering information on China’s advancements in AI and quantum computing.

Chen Yixin, the current head of the MSS, has elevated the agency’s profile, even though it remains notably secretive without a public-facing website. The agency’s intensified efforts include not only high-tech surveillance but also recruitment initiatives targeting American citizens.

Previous cases, such as Glenn Shriver, a college student recruited while studying abroad in Shanghai, and Kun Shan Chun, an FBI employee sentenced for acting as an agent of China, highlight Beijing’s ambitions to recruit individuals without ethnic or family ties to China.

The MSS’s technological prowess and recruitment strategies have even extended to attempting to steal trade secrets from American aviation companies, exemplified by the case of Yanjun Xu, the first Chinese government intelligence officer extradited to the US. Xu was sentenced to 20 years in prison for espionage crimes and attempting to acquire proprietary information.