China is rapidly advancing its Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology as ChatGPT sweeps the tech industry. However, the country is also exercising caution and paying heed to the risks posed by Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The Politburo — chaired by President Xi Jinping— recently concluded that while China must emphasize ‘innovation and development’ of AGI, measures must be taken to ‘prevent risks’.
OpenAI, gaining substantial funding from Microsoft, launched the ChatGPT product to everyone’s surprise. This triggered a hype in China, where tech giants like Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding, NetEase and SenseTime also released their own versions of ChatGPT.
The Cyberspace Administration of China has taken certain steps to monitor the usage of the AI generated content by releasing restrictions to Combat contents involving Subversion of state power, Violence, and Pornography. Regardless of the restrictions, the Chinese leaders have made clear that they hope to see advancement of AI.
Dr. You Chuanman, director of the IIA Centre for Regulation and Global Governance with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Campus, emphasizes that Chinese authorities need to find a balance between innovation and control. It is indeed a tricky situation when applications of AI technology involve consumer access to uncensored information.
The Chinese government has also taken measures to make sure developers of generative AI pass a security assessment before releasing their products to the public. This is to ensure that content generated by AI does not violate the national security policy.
The Chinese tech giants are now running to catch up in the race for AI; however, Baidu, Alibaba, NetEase and SenseTime have deliberately maintained caution to skirt the regulations. Their terms of service clearly state that testers should not use their services to promote any activity that harms national security or subverts the state’s government.
Overall, while striving to achieve innovation and development, the Chinese government has taken steps to ensure safety and security through precaution and preventive measures.
About the Company:
Microsoft is an American multi-national technology company that specializes in developing, manufacturing, licensing, and selling computer software, consumer electronics, and related services. Microsoft is widely known as one of the most important technology companies, as it created many of the core technologies used by the majority of the internet today.
About the Person:
Dr. You Chuanman is the director of the IIA Centre for Regulation and Global Governance with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Campus. He is an expert on global governance and has spoken about China’s regulatory frameworks on AI.
