On February 6, 2026, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released five typical cases of unfair competition in the field of artificial intelligence (市场监管总局公布五起人工智能领域不正当竞争典型案例). SAMR provides an administrative route for the enforcement of intellectual property in China in addition to civil and criminal enforcement mechanisms. SAMR released these cases to “effectively guide business entities to operate legally and compliantly and maintain the healthy development of the artificial intelligence industry.”

A translation of the explanation of five cases provided by SAMR follows. The original text is available here (Chinese only).

I. The Chaoyang District Market Supervision Bureau of Beijing investigated and dealt with a case involving Beijing Aolande Information Technology Co., Ltd. using the internet to spread misinformation.

Case Summary: Beijing Aolande Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Party) promoted a software called “DeepSeek Local Deployment Tool” (hereinafter referred to as the Software in question) on its website, and used the word “DeepSeek” and its official logo in multiple places on the webpage. At the same time, the Party used a paid search ranking method to leverage DeepSeek’s brand awareness, gaining an unfair competitive advantage and illicit profits. However, neither the Party nor the developer of the Software in question has any connection with the official operating entity of DeepSeek; they are exploiting user information barriers and “free-riding” on the “DeepSeek” name to gain traffic and popularity.

Legal Basis and Penalty: The party’s actions violated Article 7, Paragraph 1, Items (3) and (5) of the “Interim Provisions on Anti-Unfair Competition on the Internet” and Article 6, Item (3) of the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China” (2019 Amendment). Based on Article 33 of the “Interim Provisions on Anti-Unfair Competition on the Internet” and Article 18, Paragraph 1 of the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China” (2019 Amendment), the party is ordered to immediately cease the illegal act, and a fine of 5,000 RMBis imposed after comprehensively considering the circumstances of the case.

Case Analysis: With the rapid development of China’s digital economy and the iterative innovation of information technology, traditional unfair competition practices such as counterfeiting, deception, and false advertising are constantly being reinvented using internet technology and are gradually extending into the field of artificial intelligence, hindering the healthy development of the industry. In the handling of this case, the market supervision department kept abreast of current online hot topics, promptly stopped the illegal activities of the parties involved, and used this case to swiftly warn other illegal business entities, effectively deterring illegal behavior and continuously sending a strong signal of protecting fair competition. This demonstrates the market supervision department’s responsibility and commitment to serving the people and maintaining a fair competitive order.

II. The Xuhui District Market Supervision Bureau of Shanghai Municipality investigated and dealt with a case involving Shanghai Entropy Cloud Network Technology Co., Ltd. using the internet to commit fraud.

Case Summary: Shanghai Entropy Cloud Network Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Party) developed and operated a WeChat official account named “ChatGPT Online,” which included AI dialogue functionality and profited by attracting registered paid members. Investigation revealed that “ChatGPT” is a product developed by the American artificial intelligence research company OpenAI. The AI dialogue service provided by the Party actually calls OpenAI’s open application programming interface (API) to access its underlying model, providing services similar to “ChatGPT,” but is not the “ChatGPT” product itself. The Party used an image highly similar to the company’s official logo as the WeChat official account’s profile picture and described it as the “Chinese version of ChatGPT” in the account’s description, thus confusing the official account with “ChatGPT.”

Legal basis and penalty: The party’s behavior violated Article 6, Paragraph (4) of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China (2019 Amendment). In accordance with Article 18, Paragraph 1 of the same law, the party is ordered to cease the illegal behavior and, taking into account the circumstances of the case, is fined RMB 62,692.7.

Case Analysis: This case involves commercial confusion in the field of artificial intelligence. In this case, the party involved was well aware of the industry standing and influence of OpenAI’s “ChatGPT,” and indirectly piggybacked on this trending topic by using similar images, names, and services. They deliberately created the illusion that their services were a “Chinese version of ChatGPT,” confusing the truth to gain transaction opportunities and misleading consumers into making purchases. Their actions not only gained unfair competitive benefits but also harmed the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. The purpose of this case is to serve as a warning against such misleading behavior, guiding businesses to enhance their competitiveness through legal and compliant means, avoiding unfair gains through exploiting the goodwill of others, and ensuring the fairness and impartiality of market competition.

III. Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation investigates and punishes Shanghai Qiaopin Network Information Technology Co., Ltd. for aiding and abetting false advertising.

Case Summary: Shanghai Qiaopin Network Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Party) mainly engages in the sales and operation and maintenance of the “Douxing Intelligent” robot voice AI outbound dialing software. This software uses artificial intelligence technology to automatically make phone calls using pre-set script templates and analyzes the call content to filter potential high-quality consumers for users. Investigation revealed that the Party, knowing that several loan intermediary companies were not banking institutions and had no cooperative relationship or specific connection with banks, and that they were not providing free loan processing services, helped these users make voice calls through the “Douxing Intelligent” software, impersonating banking institutions or using free loan processing script templates to promote intermediary services.

Legal basis and penalties: The party’s actions violated Article 8, Paragraph 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China (2019 Amendment). In accordance with Article 30, Paragraph 1 of the same law, the party is ordered to cease the illegal act and is fined 200,000 RMB.

Case Analysis: Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has brought convenience to work and life; however, some unscrupulous businesses have also used it as a tool for illegal activities. In this case, the parties involved assisted a loan intermediary company in using AI software to employ misleading advertising templates containing false information, which easily gained the trust of consumers and seriously infringed upon their legitimate rights and interests. Regulating the use of AI technology is not only a necessary requirement for protecting consumers’ legitimate rights and interests and maintaining fair market competition, but also crucial for promoting the integration of AI technology into the consumer market. This case serves as a warning to businesses to strictly abide by laws and regulations and operate with integrity. Both providers and users of AI technology should apply it reasonably. It also serves as a reminder to consumers to be vigilant and avoid being deceived.

IV. The Hangzhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau of Zhejiang Province investigated and dealt with the case of Min XX’s infringement of trade secrets.

Case Summary: Min XX (hereinafter referred to as the party concerned) was a development engineer at a computing company. He had signed a confidentiality agreement with the company and was responsible for the research and development of artificial intelligence big data products. On August 21, 2024, the party concerned, at his residence, used his work key to log into the company’s test server via his personal desktop computer and downloaded a total of 15.88GB of files containing complete big data code, including data algorithm technology, without authorization. The company had taken confidentiality measures for the aforementioned files, which were subsequently identified as trade secrets.

Legal basis and penalty: The party’s behavior violated Article 9, Paragraph 1, Item (1) and Paragraph 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China (2019 Amendment). In accordance with Article 21 of the same law, the party is ordered to cease the illegal behavior and is fined RMB 360,000.

Case Analysis: Trade secrets are the culmination of a company’s technological innovation and a crucial asset for maintaining its competitive advantage. In this case, the algorithm, as a trade secret, determines how the artificial intelligence model processes data and its level of intelligence. A correct algorithmic approach is the fundamental guarantee of the effectiveness of artificial intelligence and a core competitive advantage for the company. The handling of this case not only effectively deterred the use of technological means to infringe on trade secrets but also demonstrated the market regulatory authorities’ determination to protect companies’ innovative achievements and safeguard the healthy development of the artificial intelligence industry.

V. The Hangzhou Xihu District Market Supervision Bureau investigated and dealt with the case of Hangzhou Boheng Culture Media Co., Ltd. using the internet to spread misinformation.

Case Summary: Hangzhou Boheng Culture Media Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Party) established a website called “DeepSeek Local Deployment” and induced users to pay for its use. On this self-built website, the Party used the same wording and highly similar icons as the official DeepSeek website without authorization for external promotion. Furthermore, the overall page design, the wording “DeepSeek Local Deployment Tool,” and icons were highly similar to those on the official DeepSeek website. The Party’s actions constituted misleading advertising, causing users to mistakenly believe that there was a specific connection between the Party and the official DeepSeek website.

Legal Basis and Penalty: The party’s actions violated Article 7, Paragraph 1, Item (3) of the “Interim Provisions on Anti-Unfair Competition on the Internet” and Article 6, Item (3) of the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China” (2019 Amendment). Based on Article 33 of the “Interim Provisions on Anti-Unfair Competition on the Internet” and Article 18, Paragraph 1 of the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China” (2019 Amendment), the party is ordered to immediately cease the illegal act, and a fine of 30,000 RMB is imposed after comprehensively considering the circumstances of the case.

Case Analysis: In early 2025, a large number of counterfeit DeepSeek mini-programs and websites emerged in the market, some of which involved various illegal activities such as confusion, trademark infringement, and false advertising. In this case, the party involved used a self-built website to confuse DeepSeek. Its construction and operation were simple and quick, its reach wide, and it could easily attract a large number of users in a short period, causing significant social harm and negatively impacting the DeepSeek brand image. The handling of this case not only deterred illegal businesses and maintained public trust and expectations for domestically produced technology, but also helped guide the artificial intelligence market towards a standardized and orderly development path.