Report: China to tighten rules around releasing generative AI tools

cointelegraph.com:

The Chinese government is considering additional regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) development that emphasize content control and licensing.

According to a July 11 report from the Financial Times, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) wants to impose a system requiring local companies to obtain a license before releasing generative AI systems.

This move signals a tightening of initial draft regulations released in April, which gave companies 10 working days after the product launch to register it with authorities.

The new licensing scheme is expected to be included as a part of forthcoming regulations that are anticipated to be released as early as the end of this month, sources told the FT.

Also included in the April draft of the regulations were mandatory security reviews of AI-generated content.

The government said in its draft that all content should “embody core socialist values,” and should not “subvert state power, advocate the overthrow of the socialist system, incite splitting the country or undermine national unity.”

Cointelegraph has reached out to the CAC for comment but did not receive a response by publication.

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Chinese tech and e-commerce companies Baidu and Alibaba both released AI tools this year, the latter rivaling that of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT.

According to the sources in the FT report, both companies have been in contact with regulators in the last few months to keep their products in line with the new rules.

Along with the implications mentioned above in the upcoming regulations, the draft also states that Chinese authorities have deemed tech companies making AI models fully responsible for any content created