White House intelligence ties Alibaba to Chinese military activity against U.S.

A classified intelligence memo from the White House has accused Chinese technology company Alibaba of helping the country’s armed forces carry out operations aimed at American targets.

The memo, which carries a November 1 date, contains intelligence materials that were previously marked as top secret. Officials say the document shows how Alibaba gives the People’s Liberation Army technology tools that pose dangers to American national security. The Financial Times said it could not confirm these accusations on its own.

The White House document states Alibaba hands over information about its customers to both China’s government and military. This information includes internet addresses, wireless network details, and records of payments people make. The company also gives Chinese authorities different types of artificial intelligence tools, the memo claims.

Zero-Day exploits shared with Chinese military

Workers at Alibaba have also shared information with the military about what experts call “zero-day” problems, according to the document. These are flaws in computer programs that software makers don’t know about yet and haven’t been able to fix.

Alibaba pushed back hard against these accusations. “The claims purportedly based on US intelligence that was leaked by your source are complete nonsense. This is plainly an attempt to manipulate public opinion and malign Alibaba,” the company said. When asked if it has ever worked with the People’s Liberation Army, Alibaba did not give an immediate answer.

Armed forces across the globe now depend heavily on private companies for technology services. This is especially true as weapons connect through computer systems and use cloud computing more often. The Pentagon gave contracts for cloud services to Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle back in 2022.

The memo didn’t say exactly what the Chinese military is going after inside the United States. However, intelligence officials said earlier this year that China has gotten into American infrastructure in ways it could use during a conflict.

A threat report from March pointed to Chinese hacking campaigns, including one called Salt Typhoon that got into American phone networks. The report said these attacks show how China’s abilities are getting wider and deeper.

A government official said the administration “takes these threats very seriously and is working day and night to mitigate the ongoing and potential risks and effects from [cyber] intrusions that use untrusted vendors.” Both the White House and CIA refused to make any comments.

The memo came out right after President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping met in South Korea and made a deal to pause trade restrictions for twelve months.

The White House didn’t say if it plans to do anything about what the memo claims. Some members of Congress have already asked the administration to take action against the company.

Lawmakers call for delisting Chinese tech giants

John Moolenaar, a Republican who leads the House China committee, told the Financial Times the claims matched worries his committee has had for a long time. He said Chinese companies must follow Chinese laws that take away protections for customers, no matter where in the world those companies operate.

General Sir Richard Barrons, a retired British officer who helped write the UK’s 2025 Strategic Defense Review, said armies around the world now lean on private technology companies for services and research that used to happen inside the military.

“It’s not just that these companies have all the technology and R&D, they have all the money too,” said Barrons, who now runs Universal Defense, a consulting firm in London.

The Chinese embassy in Washington called the accusations a “complete distortion of facts.” Officials said China is making its laws better to protect personal information and data in artificial intelligence.

“The Chinese government attaches great importance to, and protects, data privacy and security in accordance with the law, and has never and will never require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in foreign countries in violation of local laws,” the embassy said.