Pentagon Adds Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, and Unitree to List of Chinese Firms Linked to Military Activities

The Pentagon has added several major Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Baidu, electric-vehicle manufacturer BYD, and robotics firm Unitree, to a list of entities it says have connections to or support China’s military.

The expanded designation raises the possibility that the U.S. Department of Defence could impose additional restrictions, making it more difficult for American companies to conduct business with the affected firms. The move is also expected to add further strain to the already tense relationship between Washington and Beijing.

Baidu strongly disputed its inclusion on the list. In a statement, the company said, “We categorically reject the inclusion of Baidu on the list, and there is no credible justification for adding Baidu to the list. The suggestion that Baidu is a military company is entirely baseless. We will not hesitate to use all options available to us to have the company removed from the list.”

Alibaba also responded, stating that it “is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy. We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company.”

The designation, commonly referred to as the 1260H list, is named after a section of the 2021 National Defence Authorisation that established it. The list represents one of several mechanisms the U.S. government has used to place limits on Chinese technology firms. President Donald Trump has also relied on tariffs during both of his administrations to increase pressure on China, including imposing a 100% tariff on imported Chinese electric vehicles.

According to Bloomberg News, this latest version of the 1260H list briefly appeared in February before being removed from the Federal Register without a public explanation.

With the latest additions, many of China’s largest artificial intelligence companies are now included on the list. Tencent was added in a previous update. The development comes as Trump has indicated that he is considering whether the United States should take equity positions in leading domestic AI companies.

The revised list now contains 188 companies in total.

Several firms connected to the automotive sector were also added this year. Alongside BYD, electric vehicle maker Nio and battery manufacturers CALB Group and EVE Energy were included. RoboSense, a major Chinese producer of lidar technology, has also been added, joining competitor Hesai, which was previously listed. Baidu, meanwhile, remains one of China’s most prominent companies in the autonomous vehicle sector.

BYD, Nio, and RoboSense did not immediately respond to requests for comment.