AI Photo:VCG

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and six other ministries issued temporary rules for managing generative artificial intelligence (AI) services on Thursday, in a bid to promote the sound development of AI sector, safeguard national security and public interest, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and entities.  

Experts said that the move means China has "sounded the horn" of its AI regulation, which set the development boundaries of generative AI technology in legal terms and laid the foundation for China to participate in the administration of the global AI industry. 

The temporary rule, which will be implemented from August 15,  emphasizes that the use of generative AI should follow China's laws. 

Any act of generating or transmitting illegal content will be terminated on the spot, and illegal content will be erased. Generative AI technology providers should offer specific data processing training in line with relevant laws of intellectual property and personal information protection. 

The CAC said the rapid development of generative AI technology has brought new opportunities for economic and social development, while also giving rise to problems such as false information, infringement of personal rights, data security and bias and discrimination, noting that how to co-ordinate the development and safety of generative AI has aroused all parties' concern.

The CAC emphasized that the rule was made to coordinate the healthy development of generative AI technology and prevent problems. The rule encourages the innovative development of generative AI, and the government will implement accommodative, prudential and classified rules for the sector.

In addition, the rule will be applied to generative AI technology users providing text, image, audio and video content to the Chinese public, and it will not be applied to AI users in professional organizations including educational, cultural and research institutes. 

The US and China are leading the global AI industry based on the issue number of AI-related essays, Zuo Xiaodong, a professor at the School of Public Affairs of University of Science and Technology of China, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

"Both great potential and security risks have been shown as more and more industries had applied AI technology. Thus, regulations of its development have become the top priority," said Zuo. 

China's AI industry is experiencing a development boom, with the core industry's scale reaching 500 billion yuan ($69.4 billion) and the number of AI enterprises exceeding 4,300, said Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xu Xiaolan at the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference held on July 6 in Shanghai. 

Zuo pointed out that the issuance of the temporary rule is a concrete start to China's AI regulation, and it will help the country participate in AI industry administration in international society as one of the global industry leaders.

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that the rule imposes conditions in some specific fields such as intellectual property and personal information protection, which will facilitate the development of the entire AI industry. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly said that China is seeking to establish an international cooperation framework for AI administration. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a regular press conference on Thursday that he hadn't heard this news, noting that China pays attention to AI development and administration, and it will participate in global cooperation with a high sense of responsibility. 

"China is willing to strengthen communication with the international community on AI security regulations, and to promote the conclusion of a universally participatory international mechanism, in order to form an administrative framework and standard system with a broad consensus," said Wang.