- Chinese regulators announced Thursday that they have finalized the first-ever rules governing generative artificial intelligence to increase oversight of the rapidly growing technology.
- The powerful China Cyberspace Authority (CAC) said it worked with several other regulators to formulate new regulations that will go into effect on August 15.
- Generative AI is a rapidly growing technology area where artificial intelligence services can generate content such as text and images.
artificial intelligence in china
Ying Tan | Null Photo | Getty Images
Chinese regulators on Thursday finalized unprecedented rules governing generative artificial intelligence in a bid to tighten scrutiny of the fast-growing technology.
The powerful China Cyberspace Authority (CAC) said it worked with several other regulators to formulate new regulations that will go into effect on August 15.
Generative AI is a rapidly growing technology area where artificial intelligence services can generate content such as text and images. His ChatGPT, developed by his OpenAI in the United States, is the best-known example, which allows users to give instructions to a chatbot and receive responses to their queries.
These services are trained on vast amounts of data. However, ChatGPT’s success has spawned a flurry of competing services, raising concerns among global regulators about the potential risks surrounding the technology.
The Chinese tech giant jumped on the bandwagon, announcing plans and launching its own generative AI service.
But China, which tightly controls its domestic internet through censorship and regulation, is closely monitoring AI developments. Chinese regulators are concerned that these services may generate content that may go against the views and ideologies of the Chinese government.
That’s one reason why Chinese tech companies are wary of launching services like ChatGPT. Chinese companies have focused their technology on enterprise and narrow applications, rather than on full service offerings that are widely available to the public.
For example, Alibaba this month launched Tongyi Wanxiang, an artificial intelligence tool that can generate images from prompts, but beta testing is only available to enterprise customers.
But the CAC’s rules provide a framework for cooperating with giants on technology.
This rule applies only to generative AI services available to the general public, not those developed by research institutions or others.
Generative AI services will need to obtain an operating license, CAC said.
If a generating AI service provider finds “illegal” content, it should take steps to stop generating that content, improve its algorithms, and report the material to the relevant authorities.
Providers of these services must conduct security assessments of their products to ensure that user information is secure.
The CAC said China’s generative AI services also need to adhere to “socialist core values.”
Still, regulators are trying to strike a balance between making China a leader in artificial intelligence while closely monitoring its developments.
The regulations are intended to encourage innovative applications of generative AI and support the development of related infrastructure such as semiconductors, according to the CAC rules.
