The United States has expanded its intelligence collection efforts against China to include Chinese companies, reflecting Beijing’s dual role as a military and economic competitor, according to Michael Ellis, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Speaking Tuesday at a cybersecurity conference in Washington, Ellis described a significant shift in the scope of U.S. espionage activities compared to the Cold War era, when intelligence agencies primarily focused on state actors such as the Soviet Union.

Ellis emphasized that China’s challenge to the United States is fundamentally different due to its economic dimensions. He noted that under the Chinese Communist Party’s control, businesses are not truly independent entities as in Western countries, making Chinese companies legitimate intelligence targets, particularly in sectors like artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and biotechnology. “Valuable intelligence about those technologies is not found in the same places that political or military foreign intelligence is found,” he said. Instead, it often resides within the private sector—or entities that function similarly to private companies under Chinese governance.

This approach marks a departure from past U.S. administrations, which drew clearer distinctions between espionage aimed at national security and intelligence gathering with economic motives. The Obama administration, for example, publicly denounced cybertheft of American intellectual property by China and negotiated a 2015 agreement with Beijing to curb economic espionage. Yet U.S. officials have since alleged China violated this pact. Historically, U.S. intelligence efforts have been broad but have rarely openly acknowledged the complexity of targeting closely intertwined military and economic interests in China’s system.

Ellis underscored that U.S. intelligence collection has always adapted to geopolitical changes but that China’s technological advances require an expanded remit. “What’s different now is it’s not just about tanks, missiles and submarines,” he said in an interview following his remarks.

The timing of Ellis’s comments is notable as President Donald Trump prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit later this month, where topics like artificial intelligence and trade tensions are expected to be significant agenda items. On the same day, the Trump administration issued a new advisory from the National Security Agency, FBI, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, warning that Chinese AI companies have engaged in “industrial scale” theft of trade secrets from American competitors through a technique known as distillation. The advisory identified several leading Chinese AI firms believed to have relied heavily on this practice since at least 2024, describing it as central to their AI model development.

Ellis also highlighted recent CIA reforms, including the creation of a cybersecurity mission center launched last year, which has supported successful operations such as the January raid in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro. He credited comprehensive cyberintelligence for enabling U.S. Special Forces to locate Maduro and complete the capture shortly after landing.

Addressing broader concerns, Ellis mentioned persistent cyber threats to U.S. critical infrastructure, including the Salt Typhoon telecommunications network intrusion linked to China, which remains a significant hazard nearly two years after detection. He also referenced attacks on municipal water systems reportedly conducted by Iran. These incidents underscore, he said, the urgent need for enhanced collaboration between the government and private sector to bolster defenses against sophisticated foreign adversaries.