Prohibition of AI that 'subverts state power' in China may chill its nascent industry

Chinese regulators have proposed restrictive rules around AI models like ChatGPT being built in the country, requiring user identification and security reviews, and prohibiting "any content that subverts state power, advocates the overthrow of the socialist system, incites splitting the country or undermines national unity." The rules come hot on the heels of Chinese tech companies rolling out their versions of general purpose large language models, versatile AI systems that can converse in natural language and carry out a surprising number of tasks. While the reception of SenseTime, Baidu, and Alibaba's models over the last month suggests they're somewhat behind the likes of GPT-4, it's clear the industry there is equally dedicated to developing these capabilities. Unfortunately, shortly after the debut of Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen model, one of the country's tech regulators, the Cyberspace Administration of China, proposed restrictions that may smother relevant innovations -- and the Chinese AI industry's ambitions along with them. The draft rules are not available in English (I took the above quote from the Financial Times translation syndicated at Ars Technica) but can be viewed at the regulator's website here.