China Leads on Regulation of Artificial Generative Intelligence

On July 13, 2023 the Cyberspace Administration of China published the “Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence”(生成式人工智能管理暂行办法), effective from August 15, 2023. The Measures, consisting of twenty-four articles divided into five chapters, should be read and understood in the context of the “New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan”, enacted in 2017, the “Administrative Provisions on Recommendation Algorithms in Internet-based Information Services”, enacted in 2021, and the “Administrative Provisions on Deep Synthesis in Internet-Based Information Services”, effective from 2023.

Article 2 of the Measures defines the scope of the Measures, restricting their application to the use of generative artificial intelligence technologies to provide services to the public in mainland China for the generation of text, images, audio, video, or other content. The Measures shall not apply where industry associations, enterprises, research and academic institutions, public cultural bodies and related professional organizations, etc., research, develop and use generative AI technology, but do not plan to provide generative AI services to the public.

Article 7 requires generative artificial intelligence providers to conduct training and comply with certain conditions of use in order to ensure the truth, accuracy, objectivity and diversity of data.

Article 8 requires certain assessments about the quality of data to ensure the accuracy of its content.

Finally, Article 19 requires close cooperation between generative intelligence providers and the relevant departments carrying out oversight inspections, explaining sources, models, types, tagging rules, algorithm mechanisms et cetera.

The Measures show both the PRC’s focus on new technologies and their development and application, while setting limits for those using such technologies or offering related services.

Source available at

http://www.cac.gov.cn/2023-07/13/c_1690898327029107.htm