The owner of Twitter, one of the richest people in the world, and CEO of Tesla, met with officials in Beijing and employees in Shanghai last week.
“It’s worth noting that during my recent visit to China, I think we had very productive discussions with senior leaders there about the risks of artificial intelligence and the need for some oversight and regulation,” Musk said. said.
“And my understanding from those conversations is that China will start regulating AI in China.”
Mr. Musk, whose widespread interest in China has long been frowned upon in Washington, tweeted live with Robert Kennedy Jr., nephew of Democratic presidential candidate and vaccine conspiracy theorist John F. Kennedy. I spoke about this interaction at the forum.
Mr. Musk did not tweet during his stay in China, and Tesla has not made public the content of his meetings with officials.
However, China’s official channel reported that he generously praised the country, including its “vitality and future potential”, and expressed “full confidence in the Chinese market”.
Since San Francisco-based OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November, many Chinese companies have rushed to develop AI services that can mimic human speech.
However, rapid advances have raised global vigilance about the potential for this technology to lead to misinformation and abuse.
Musk didn’t elaborate on the discussions in China, but perhaps a comprehensive package that would require new AI products to undergo safety assessments before launch, a process to ensure they reflect “core socialist values.” It seems that he was referring to a similar bill.
The “Administrative Action on Generative Artificial Intelligence Services” proclamation allows content that promotes “terrorist or extremist propaganda,” “ethnic hatred,” or “other content that may disrupt the economic and social order.” is prohibited.
Under China’s highly centralized political system, the measure is almost certain to become law.
Musk’s controversial suggestion that the sovereign Taiwan should become part of China was welcomed by Chinese officials but deeply resented by the city of Taipei.
The 51-year-old South African native said the meeting in China was “very promising”.
“If there is an overwhelmingly powerful digital superintelligence developed in China, it actually poses a risk to the Chinese government’s sovereignty,” he said.
“And I think they took that concern to heart.”
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