China Begins its Comprehensive Regulation of Generative AI Services

Summary

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• The rapid development of AI, in particular generative AI, has not escaped the notice of the Chinese regulatory authorities.
• A new set of measures aims to comprehensively regulate this area of technology.
• The measures cover content generation, training of the AI model, the contractual relationship and interaction with users, and protection of users' data.
• Extra-jurisdictional provisions mean that a foreign business which wishes to provide generative AI services in China will need to comply with the new measures.
• The measures reflect the Chinese government's usual approach to content and ideological control.

On July 13, 2023, the Cyberspace Administration of China ("CAC") and six other ministries jointly published the Tentative Measures for the Administration of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services (生成式人工智能服务管理暂行办法) ("Measures on GAI"). The Measures on GAI came into effect on August 15, 2023, and are believed to be the first effective legal provisions in the world that comprehensively regulate the application of AI-generated content ("AIGC") technologies, also known as "generative AI". This illustrates China's efforts to strike a balance between promoting the development of its own AI technology and managing the potential risks brought by the new technology.

The Measures on GAI are deemed as China's first specific regulation on the application of AIGC technology