Chinese state regulators have ordered the country's leading tech companies to not offer ChatGPT services to the public amid growing concerns over the AI-powered chatbot's uncensored responses to user queries, according to a report from Nikkei Asia.
Two of the leading tech firms, Tencent Holdings and Ant Group, have been told not to provide access to ChatGPT services, either directly or via third-party services.
Meanwhile, other tech firms must now report to regulators before offering any ChatGPT-like services. Though not officially available in China, some users have been able to access ChatGPT using a virtual private network (VPN). The authorities have also suspended several third-party services related to ChatGPT, irrespective of whether they were legitimate or copycats.
China is notorious for its aggressive "firewall" aimed at censoring the internet from content seen as threatening to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The state propaganda outlet China Daily also argued that ChatGPT "could provide a helping hand to the U.S. government in its spread of disinformation and its manipulation of global narratives for its own geopolitical interests."
"Our understanding from the beginning is that ChatGPT can never enter China due to issues with censorship, and China will need its own versions of ChatGPT," said one leading tech executive.
Following the highly publicized rollout of ChatGPT, Chinese tech giants, such as Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu, have raced to launch their own versions of ChatGPT-like services, although have also sought to emphasize the differences. Baidu is expected to complete internal testing of its ChatGPT-style project, "Ernie Bot," in March, which may not be a chatbot initially but instead a feature in some of its most popular products.
The Chinese regulator's clampdown on ChatGPT comes amid escalating tensions between China and Washington. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said new information suggests Beijing could provide "lethal support" to Russia in the Ukraine war, triggering fears of a second cold war. The Chinese Foreign Ministry rubbished the claims and accused Blinken of lying.
