The National Archives recently removed an AI-powered search tool from the Federal Register website after it was discovered that the agency had deployed a model from Alibaba’s Qwen series. The tool, which allowed users to search public comments on proposed regulations, was active for at least one day, with archived source code confirming its removal on Wednesday, September 17, 2026. This deployment sparked significant controversy due to a direct contradiction with recent law enforcement findings; earlier this month, the FBI identified Alibaba as one of six Chinese firms accused of performing "industrial-scale distillation." According to the FBI, this process involves illegally copying frontier AI models to reduce development costs and accelerate technological advancement. While the specific duration of the tool's availability remains unclear, social media evidence dated September 15 highlighted the presence of the Qwen model on the government site. Experts noted that the potential security implications of this deployment depend on whether the model's training data or the subsequent processing of US government data occurred within Alibaba-controlled systems. Despite the incident, neither the National Archives nor the White House has officially commented on the removal or the decision to utilize the Chinese-developed model.