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China technology
OpinionComment
Angela Huyue Zhang
Angela Huyue Zhang

Opinion | Expect China’s regulators to help AI firms in race against US, European peers

  • While China was an early mover in regulating generative AI, it is also highly supportive of the technology and the companies developing it
  • Chinese AI firms might even have a competitive advantage over their US and European counterparts, which face strong regulatory headwinds

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A boy uses the AI-powered large language model “Spark Desk”, launched by Chinese AI firm iFlytek, at the 2023 Smart China Expo in Chongqing, on September 3. Photo: Xinhua
Angela Huyue Zhang
If a Chinese tech firm wants to venture into generative artificial intelligence, it is bound to face significant hurdles arising from stringent government control, at least according to popular perceptions. China was, after all, among the first countries to introduce legislation regulating the technology. But a closer look at the so-called interim measures on AI indicates that far from hampering the industry, China’s government is actively seeking to bolster it.
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This should not be surprising. Already a global leader in AI (trailing only the United States), China has big ambitions in the sector and the means to ensure that its legal and regulatory landscape encourages and facilitates indigenous innovation.

The interim measures on generative AI reflect this strategic motivation. To be sure, a preliminary draft of the legislation released by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) included some encumbering provisions. For example, it would have required providers of AI services to ensure that the training data and the model outputs be “true and accurate”, and it gave firms just three months to recalibrate foundational models producing prohibited content.

But these rules were watered down significantly in the final legislation. The interim measures also significantly narrowed the scope of application, targeting only public-facing companies and mandating content-based security assessment solely for those wielding influence over public opinion.

While securing approval from the regulatory authorities does entail additional costs and a degree of uncertainty, there is no reason to think that Chinese tech giants – with their deep pockets and strong capacity for compliance – will be deterred.

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Nor is there reason to think that the CAC would seek to create unnecessary roadblocks: just two weeks after the interim measures came into effect, the agency gave the green light to eight companies, including Baidu and SenseTime, to launch their chatbots.
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