China slaps security reviews on AI products as Alibaba unveils ChatGPT challenger
China proposed new checks on artificial intelligence chatbots on Tuesday, in an effort to control how its tech industry rolls out generative AI models, as popularized by ChatGPT in the US.
Hours after tech giant Alibaba followed its peers SenseTime and Baidu with the launch of a ChatGPT-like bot, China’s powerful Internet regulator released draft measures likely to slow Alibaba’s rollout, citing chatbots’ potential for “social mobilization.”
The Cyberspace Administration of China proposals said providers would have to submit their products for security reviews before their public release and it would set up a database to register them. The regulator also said platforms must verify users’ identities, allowing usage to be tracked. “Content generated by generative artificial intelligence should embody core socialist values and must not contain any content that subverts state power, advocates the overthrow of the socialist system, incites splitting the country or undermines national unity,” the CAC rules state.
