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Elon Musk recently visited China and spoke to a lot of tech leaders about AI regulations and safety. In a recent Twitter space, he shared that China’s senior leadership knows that digital superintelligence has the potential of running China instead of the Chinese Communist Party. Therefore, it seems logical to assume that China will be the first to regulate AI. But on the other hand, Musk also said that the people of China that want to build generative AI products would end up being disappointed with the government if they put regulations around it.
This fear of regulation has indeed come true. Chinese regulators have finalised unprecedented regulations concerning generative AI as part of their efforts to enhance supervision over this rapidly expanding technology. On the other hand, countries like the US, European Union, and India are still juggling between the possible frameworks.
The new regulations make it clear that existing Chinese laws on cybersecurity, and data privacy, etc apply to generative AI as well. Moreover, the regulations also include that the companies providing APIs for others to build models will be held responsible for its misuse. Interestingly, this pertains to research and development too, and not just building AI products.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), an influential regulatory body, collaborated with various other regulators to develop these new rules, which will become effective on August 15. It would be interesting to see how companies work and build generative AI products following the implementation of these regulations.
The country has been discussing about rules governing generative AI for some time now. The draft regulations that came out in April received mixed reviews from around the world. A lot of people have been appreciating the strict policies against the use of copyright material for training generative AI applications.
Made in China, Stays in China
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been able to woo the world. The hype cycle led other companies around the world to work on something similar. Chinese tech giants also got excited about it and joined the bandwagon of generative AI. However, the strict control of the Chinese government, which exercises tight control over its domestic internet through censorship and regulation, has stifled the growth of the new AI technology.
Baidu and Alibaba, which introduced generative AI applications this year, have been engaging with regulators in recent months to ensure compliance with the regulations. These companies have been in contact with the authorities to ensure that their AI technologies adhere to the rules and do not violate any regulatory requirements.
Read: Great Firewall of China: Barrier to Baidu’s Global AI Aspirations
Chinese regulators are particularly worried about the possibility of these services generating content that contradicts Beijing’s perspectives or ideology. This is partly why Chinese tech firms have been cautious about launching their own versions of ChatGPT. Instead of providing widely accessible full services, these companies have concentrated their AI technology on enterprise and specific applications.
When it comes to competing with OpenAI, China’s strict regulation kills all the threat that the technology is capable of enforcing. The country’s overarching regulation has been restricting the launch of its technology on a global scale. “It is the first time that China finds itself having to do a trade-off” between two Communist party goals of sustaining AI leadership and controlling information, said Matt Sheehan, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Can AI be the global collaborator?
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, had earlier called China to help out in framing rules around generative AI. Even though ChatGPT is not currently available in China, the company aims to expand the company’s footing around the world. “China has some of the best AI talent in the world and fundamentally, given the difficulties in solving alignment for advanced AI systems, this requires the best minds from around the world,” said Altman at an event at Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence.
Several governments and authorities are in a race to establish regulations to address the potential misuse of generative AI. The EU has put forward some of the most stringent rules globally, which has led to objections from companies and executives in the region. Meanwhile, discussions about AI governance and control are taking place in Washington, and the UK is initiating a review of the matter.
China’s rule seems even stronger and stricter than any other country in the world. Altman has already been trying to regulate AI competitors. Possibly, by learning from China, Altman can discuss rules to subdue its competitors, those that are already rising from across the globe.
