Chinese authorities have approved more than 40 artificial intelligence (AI) models for public use in the first six months of its approval process, signalling the country’s commitment to advancing AI technology and keeping it under regulatory control.
According to reports, the latest batch of approvals includes 14 large language models (LLMs), with recipients including Xiaomi Corp, 4Paradigm, and 01.AI. China began requiring tech companies to obtain regulatory approval to release their LLMs to the public in August of 2023.
This marks the fourth batch of approvals, and aligns with the government’s initiative to strike a balance between fostering innovation in AI and ensuring regulatory oversight. Major Chinese tech companies such as Baidu, Alibaba, and ByteDance were among the first recipients of AI model approvals in the initial batches.
The government has not disclosed a detailed list of approved companies, but Chinese media reports suggest that over 40 AI models have received regulatory approval for public use. China’s efforts in AI development have intensified, with companies racing to create innovative AI products following the global attention received by OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. As of that time, China accounted for 40% of the world’s large language models, second only to the United States.
