White House Memo Alleges Alibaba Aids Chinese Military Targeting U.S. FT Report

A White House memo has alleged that Alibaba Group is providing technological support to the Chinese military in operations targeting the United States, according to a report published by the Financial Times (FT) on Friday.

The report claimed that Alibaba’s technology is being used to aid military activities, but noted that FT could not independently verify the contents of the memo. The full version of the document has not been released, and the White House has not commented on the report.

In response, Alibaba rejected the allegations, calling them “completely false.” In a statement to CNBC, the company said: “We question the motivation behind the anonymous leak, which the FT admits they cannot verify. This malicious PR operation clearly came from a rogue voice looking to undermine President Trump’s recent trade deal with China.”

The memo’s emergence follows a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea last month, where both sides agreed to a 12-month rollback of tariffs and export controls, easing recent trade tensions.

Some analysts have suggested the timing of the report could reflect internal political divisions in Washington. Andy Rothman, founder of Sinology, told CNBC that the lack of details “raises the question of whether some China hawks in the administration are trying to undercut the President’s deal with Xi Jinping.”

The FT report also comes amid heightened scrutiny of China’s access to advanced semiconductors and AI capabilities. Kyle Chan, a Brookings fellow, said the market reaction, with Alibaba’s stock falling 3.78% in the U.S. on Friday, shows how sensitive China’s tech sector is to potential new sanctions.

Despite the decline in New York, Alibaba’s shares rose over 1% in Hong Kong on Monday. The company’s open-source AI model, Qwen, has gained traction in Silicon Valley, posing competition to U.S.-based platforms such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Alibaba is expected to announce its quarterly earnings on November 25 ahead of the U.S. market open.