Do not set up an “AI proxy site” to resell foreign large-model API access cheaply: an operator in Shanghai has already been placed in criminal detention
AI proxy sites resell access to foreign large-model APIs at low prices. A Shanghai operator spent 37 days in criminal detention over this; after release on bail pending investigation, he said he would certainly receive a criminal sentence and had already repaid losses and surrendered unlawful proceeds. The Ministry of State Security has also warned that many proxy sites lack operating qualifications and send user data abroad without authorization.
No expense. The cost is giving up a low-barrier side busin…
In June 2026, the Ministry of State Security issued a risk warning. It described AI proxy sites as a proxy lay…
No expense. The cost is giving up a low-barrier side business with apparently attractive turnover. To aggregate models legitimately, obtain the operating license and connect officially authorized models; that takes considerable money and time.
In June 2026, the Ministry of State Security issued a risk warning. It described AI proxy sites as a proxy layer between users and model vendors’ official services. Some lack operating qualifications. Some send users’ input to overseas servers without the required data-export compliance qualifications or statutory security assessment. Others enable users to bypass restrictions on network access, official authorization, and cross-border transmission. China Newsweek reported a case in June 2026. In May 2026, a Shanghai proxy-site operator posted a shutdown announcement in a technical community. He said Shanghai police had placed him in criminal detention for 37 days for unlawfully obtaining large-model API access, and he was now on bail pending investigation. He said he would “certainly be sentenced” and had already repaid losses and surrendered unlawful proceeds, with a fine still to pay. The report said such proxy sites register or buy foreign large-model subscription accounts in bulk, set up overseas servers as relays, and resell access cheaply to users in China (nationwide / Shanghai).
国家安全部 (2026). 「AI中转站」，风险要防范. https://www.szzg.gov.cn/2026/xwzx/szkx/202606/t20260608_5331487.htm（数字中国建设峰会官网转载国家安全部微信公众号）；中国新闻周刊 (2026-06-22). AI中转站，面临整治「风暴」（记者孟倩）. https://www.chinanews.com/cj/2026/06-22/10644787.shtml（网页存档 https://web.archive.org/web/20261005042903/https://www.chinanews.com/cj/2026/06-22/10644787.shtml）
Open source linkThis case has only media reporting and the operator’s own account, with no judgment or police notice and no official statement of the charge. Specific charges and prison terms circulating online come from lawyers’ articles and are not cited here. It therefore cannot be said that every proxy site is criminal; only that someone has already been placed in criminal detention for operating one. Legitimate paid model aggregation requires an operating license; see Section 26, Item 2 (paid websites need a license). Public generative AI services require filing; see Item 17 in this section (generative AI security assessment). Sending user data abroad has statutory conditions; see Section 26, Item 10 (exporting user information). Proxy-site users face separate risks; see Section 14, Item 10 (AI proxy sites). The beneficiary is you.