A US federal judge granted Alibaba a legal reprieve that would allow the Chinese e-commerce giant to temporarily resume lobbying in the US, the latest development in a closely watched case with implications for the countries’ technological rivalry.
Washington lobbyists dropped Alibaba as a client following a US law barring the Pentagon from working with companies that represented firms on its blacklist of alleged Chinese-military linked entities. The judge ordered the Pentagon not to treat Alibaba as a Chinese military company until she reviewed the constitutionality of the measure.
The decision comes as US AI firms are adopting a more aggressive stance toward Chinese competitors, accusing them of stealing their technology to build increasingly powerful AI systems.