ChatGPT Reportedly Blocked On Chinese Social Media Apps—As Beijing Claims AI Is Used To Spread Propaganda

Topline

Regulators in Beijing have ordered the country’s top tech companies to ensure that their platforms do not offer access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT or other services powered by the AI-driven chatbot, Nikkei Asia reported, days after Chinese state media tried to paint the service as a potential enabler for American propaganda.

Key Facts

According to Nikkei Asia, regulators have ordered WeChat’s parent Tencent and Alibaba-affiliate Ant Group to ensure ChatGPT is not accessible either directly on their own services or through third-party apps on their storefront.

Like most major foreign web platforms, ChatGPT is blocked by China’s “great firewall” as it does not conform with the country’s censorship laws.

The chatbot service had been made accessible to some users in the country through third-party apps on WeChat before being taken down by Tencent, the report adds.

Aside from blocking access to ChatGPT, Chinese tech companies have also been ordered to seek clearance from regulators before launching their own AI-powered chatbots or similar services.

Forbes has reached out to OpenAI for comment.

News Peg

Earlier this week, the state-controlled paper China Daily released a video titled “How the US uses AI to spread disinformation” that attempted to label ChatGPT as an American propaganda tool. The video shows ChatGPT responding to a query about Xinjiang by mentioning the reports of widespread human rights abuse by the Chinese against the region’s Uyghur Muslim minorities. The presenter labels this a “perfectly typed answer in line with U.S. government talking points.” The video then continues to label ChatGPT and other AI projects as enablers of large-scale disinformation by the U.S. and the West.

Tangent

Earlier this month, Chinese search giant Baidu revealed it was working on its own AI-powered chatbot called Ernie—which is short for Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration. Baidu said it has been working on the tool since 2019 and will complete internal testing in March and launch the service to the public later that month. According to Reuters, Ernie would first launch as a standalone service similar to ChatGPT’s rollout before being integrated into Baidu’s search engine. It is unclear how this timeline will be impacted by Beijing’s latest order.

Key Background

Despite earlier reports claiming that China and its tech companies are on the cusp of becoming leaders in AI, concerns have emerged in the country that it may be way behind in the development of tools like ChatGPT. According to the New York Times, the launch of ChatGPT and its popularity has “shocked and demoralized” tech entrepreneurs in China who fear that China is lagging behind due to its censorship laws and increasing government control of the tech industry. After months of cost-cutting and layoffs, many top Chinese tech companies including Baidu, Alibaba and NetEase are now scrambling to respond to the launch of ChatGPT with their own similar projects, the Financial Times reported.

Further Reading

China tells big tech companies not to offer ChatGPT services (Nikkei Asia)

Why China Didn’t Invent ChatGPT (New York Times)