China to trust AI to stimulate the economy

Cyberspace Administration of China (Cyberspace Administration of China, CAC) unveiled new regulatory measures to manage the rapidly growing generative AI industry. The statement highlights the desire of the authorities to support the development of this sector. About it reported edition of Reuters.

The new rules, which have received the status of “interim”, will come into force on August 15. This comes after a signal from the authorities to end years of state control over the technology industry. The authorities hope that support for the industry will help boost the economic recovery after the lifting of restrictions related to COVID-19.

Analysts noted that the final measures were less stringent than those proposed in the April draft. Particular attention in the final rules is given to establishing a balance between supporting the development of technologies and ensuring their safety.

The CAC statement states that only those providers that intend to offer their services to the general public will be required to provide security ratings. This gives more freedom to companies developing products for the business segment.

Investments are actively directed to the Chinese sector of generative AI. Large companies such as Baidu and Alibaba Group have already launched many AI models. But pending the final approval of technology regulations and the approval of their products, companies have delayed the launch of chatbots for general use.

Instead, many Chinese tech companies have focused on industrial applications of AI. For example, e-commerce company JD.com has already launched ChatRhino, an enterprise large language model.

The announcement sends a positive signal that regulators are actively working to create the conditions for a massive launch of AI products in China.

China aims to make AI an area where it can compete with the US and plans to become the world leader in this sector by 2030. The CAC statement re-emphasizes that content created with generative AI for the general public must be in line with the country’s core socialist values.

Service providers are encouraged to use legitimate data sources and ensure that intellectual property rights are not infringed. The regulator stressed that the authorities are keen to encourage the development of technology areas such as generative AI algorithms and semiconductors, as well as to participate in the development of international regulations.