The Chinese Government has banned all tech companies in the country from offering ChatGPT or related services through their services. In China, the state media has explained that the US-based ChatGPT is spreading falsehood and can be detrimental to Chinese Sovereignty.
On the 20th of February, the state-owned Media China Daily posted on Weibo that the AI chatbot can help the US to spread disinformation and manipulation of global narratives to its own interests.
The government has informed tech giants like Alibaba Group and Tencent to stop offering ChatGPT services on their platforms directly or through third-party. Also, the government has announced that any company that wishes to launch a chatbot or related AI model service should report to regulators and get permission.
Nobody will be allowed to launch a Chat-GPT-style service in China without permission.
ChatGPT is the fastest-growing web platform in human history, and the Chinese people love it. The web app hasn’t been available in the country, but many Chinese people have used it thanks to VPNs. Some Chinese developers have also released mini versions that offer partial services from ChatGPT.
The programs have floated on WeChat, the Chinese Whatsapp owned by Tencent. Immediately after the announcement, Tencent banned all parties who provide ChatGPT-related services from their platform. Even the most minor service that resembles AI or ChatGPT has been banned by Tencent. They previously faced some problems with their gaming sector, so they know what it can be like.
Why ChatGPT will never work in China
The Chinese government is famous for internet censorship and won’t allow programs like ChatGPT gains access to their country. A US-based Company, Open-AI, owns ChatGPT, a continuously evolving AI that an entity cannot easily control.
The AI chatbot also created a list of controversial people, including Elon Musk, Putin, the Chinese president, and others. It also gave a negative rating to the Chinese communist party. If allowed in China, people will use it to ask politically sensitive questions, and the government might not accept the answers.
The Rise of ChatGPT Rivals in China
ChatGPT might never work in China again, but the government is closely monitoring Alibaba and Baidu, who has promised to launch their own version of Chabot similar to ChatGPT. The Chinese Internet Technology company NeTEase Inc and e-commerce website JD.com have also announced plans to create ChatGPT rivals.
Last week, Fudan University Shanghai launched the ChatGPT rival app called MOSS for public testing. Baidu is set to complete internal testing of its app called Ernie Bot by March. ChatJP is a chatbot in the works by JD.com.
Chinese Tech Giants have assured the government that their apps will have nothing to do with ChatGPT and might not even be chatbots but rather some embedded features of the AI that can be regulated.
