China publishes interim rules on generative AI (updated)

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13/07/2023 08:50

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    By Josh Ye
       HONG KONG, July 13 (Reuters) - China issued interim
measures on Thursday to manage its booming generative artificial
intelligence (AI) industry, saying they would apply only to
services offered to the public as regulators seek to support
development of the technology.
    The rules, set to take effect on Aug. 15, come after Beijing
signalled the end of its years-long crackdown on the tech
industry, whose help it seeks to spur an economy recovering more
slowly than expected after the scrapping of COVID-19 curbs.  
    Thursday's rules clarified the scope of what regulators will
target, following draft rules published in April that required 
firms to submit security assessments before launching their
offerings to the public.
    "The current version is very much in line with market
expectations," said Kai Wang, an analyst with Morningstar.
    "It sends the positive signal that the regulators are paving
the way for companies in China to launch their products on a
large scale."
    China sees AI as an area in which it wants to rival the
United States, and on which it has set it sights on becoming a
world leader by 2030.
    It is seen to be ahead of the regulatory curve as countries
globally grapple with setting guardrails for the technology
popularised by the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot.
    Such efforts must weigh up safety concerns and copyright
protections against ensuring an environment beneficial to
innovation.
    Investment has poured into China's generative AI scene and
its firms have launched dozens of AI models, companies had held
back from rolling out chatbots to the public until Beijing
finalised rules for the technology and approved their products. 
    On Thursday, the regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of
China (CAC) reiterated that content generated by generative AI
had to be in line with China's core socialist values.
    Service providers had to ensure intellectual property rights
were not infringed, it added, advising that legitimate data
sources should be used. 
    However, the measures would not apply to those working on
generative AI technology who did not plan to plan to offer
services to the Chinese public, it said. 
    China wants to encourage the development of the technology,
it said, citing areas such as generative AI algorithms and
semiconductors, as well as engage in drawing up international
rules. 
    "Relevant national authorities shall ... improve their
supervisory methods so that they are scientific and compatible
with innovation and development," the regulator said. 
    Chinese tech firms, such as Alibaba Group  9988.HK  and
Baidu Inc  9888.HK , developed their own ChatGPT-style chatbots.
    On Thursday, JD.com  JD.O  became the latest to join the
race, launching an enterprise-facing large language model it
called ChatRhino.

 (Reporting by Josh Ye; Editing by Brenda Goh and Clarence
Fernandez)
 ((Josh.Ye@thomsonreuters.com;))