Studying public sentiment during crises is crucial for understanding how opinions and sentiments shift, resulting in polarized societies. We study Weibo, the most popular microblogging site in China, using posts made during the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis. The study period includes the pre-COVID-19 stage, the outbreak stage, and the early stage of epidemic prevention. We use Llama 3 8B, a Large Language Model, to analyze users' sentiments on the platform by classifying them into positive, negative, sarcastic, and neutral categories. Analyzing sentiment shifts on Weibo provides insights into how social events and government actions influence public opinion. This study contributes to understanding the dynamics of social sentiments during health crises, fulfilling a gap in sentiment analysis for Chinese platforms. By examining these dynamics, we aim to offer valuable perspectives on digital communication's role in shaping society's responses during unprecedented global challenges.

US regulators on Tuesday took the first action towards drawing up new regulations on artificial intelligence that could see the White House put the halts on new technologies such as ChatGPT. The US Department of Commerce put out a call for input from industry actors that would serve to inform the Biden administration in drafting a regulation on AI. US President Joe Biden last week said the jury is still out on whether AI poses a danger to society, but the action on Tuesday signaled that the White House is open to setting some ground rules. Just as food and cars are not released into the market without proper assurance of safety, so too AI systems should provide assurance to the public, government, and businesses that they are fit for purpose." The United States is home to the biggest developers of tech and AI, including Microsoft-backed OpenAI, which created ChatGPT but trails internationally in holding the industry. Biden has urged Congress to pass laws putting strict limits on big tech, but these have little chance of making headway given political divisions among lawmakers. The lack of rules has given Silicon Valley freedom to put out new products and stoked fears that AI technologies will wreak havoc on society before the government can catch up. Last month, billionaire mogul Elon Musk and a range of CEOs and experts called for a pause in the development of powerful AI. OpenAI has asked that its AI systems be subject to rigorous safety evaluations and said that comprehensive regulation of the sector was needed. Our inquiry will inform policies to support AI audits, risk and safety assessments, certifications, and other tools that can create earned trust in AI systems."