Pentagon accuses Alibaba and Baidu of aiding Chinese Military, robotmaker Unitree also joins list

The US Department of Defense has announced that it is adding several Chinese companies including Alibaba, Baidu, and Unitree to a list of companies that it accuses are supporting the Chinese military. This could allow the Pentagon to make it harder for these companies to do business in the US. The list now has 188 Chinese firms.

In Short

• US puts Alibaba, Baidu, Unitree on list of companies aiding Chinese military
• This may make it harder for these companies to do business in the US
• 188 Chinese companies are now on this list

The US Department of Defense has added more Chinese companies to 1260H list of firms that it claims are supporting the Chinese Military. Some of the new companies are Alibaba, Baidu, and humanoid robot maker Unitree. EV manufacturer BYD is also a new addition as per reports.

This move targets some of China’s biggest companies in the space of AI, robots, and electric vehicles. The Pentagon announced the updated list on Monday. “The United States Government reserves the right to take additional actions on these entities under authorities other than Section 1260H,” the department said in a statement.

Do note that according to a report from Bloomberg News, This update to the 1260H list was first published in February, before being pulled shortly afterwards.

What is the 1260H list of Chinese companies?

The 1260H list is one of the tools that the US has used to place restrictions on Chinese tech. It was created under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The updated list now includes 188 companies.

While inclusion on the list does not itself trigger immediate sanctions, it can limit a company’s ability to contract with the US military or receive research funding. This can potentially serve as a warning to US investors, with reports indicating that it could be a precursor to tougher trade or investment restrictions.

Why did the US put Alibaba and Baidu on the list?

As per the list, Alibaba and Baidu are termed as “military-civil fusion” contributors to the Chinese defense industrial base because they are “affiliated with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).”

Under Beijing’s military-civil fusion policy, private sector collaboration with the armed forces is mandated. This move from the US Pentagon now restricts three Chinese AI giants – Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent. Tencent has been on the list since 2025.

Unitree, on the other hand, is said to have “knowingly received assistance from the Government of China through science, technology, or industrial efforts.”

Alongside Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and Unitree, the Pentagon also added several companies from the automotive and technology sectors, including Nio, battery makers Calb Group and Eve Energy, and lidar maker RoboSense.

The Pentagon said the named entities qualify as Chinese military companies operating directly or indirectly in the US on the basis of alleged activities including “providing commercial services, manufacturing, producing, or exporting.”

The Chinese embassy accused the US of “overstretching the concept of national security and making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies”, and said Chinese businesses follow the laws and regulations of the countries where they operate.

The update came less than a month after Trump met Xi in Beijing for talks that were closely watched for signs of easing in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The summit did not produce a significant breakthrough on advanced technology, especially artificial intelligence.

Do note that AI has become a matter of concern for governments across the world. China had previously blocked Meta’s acquisition of Manus AI citing national security concerns. While the US has largely restricted sales of advanced chips to China from Nvidia and AMD.

In the past, US AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have previously claimed that Chinese companies were distilling their models to train their own models.

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