Elon Musk says China looking to initiate AI regulations

The billionaire's comments follow his two-day trip to the Asian country last week during which he met senior Chinese government officials

Billionaire Elon Musk gets in a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing, China, on May 31, 2023. Reuters

The Chinese government will seek to initiate artificial intelligence regulations in its country, billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday after meeting with officials during his recent trip to China.

Mr Musk did not elaborate further and made his remarks in a Twitter Space with Democratic presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr on Monday.

“It's worth noting that on my recent trip to China, I went to senior leadership there. I think we had some very productive discussions on artificial intelligence risks, and the need for some oversight and regulation,” said Mr Musk, owner of Twitter and Tesla chief executive.

“And my understanding from those conversations is that China will be initiating AI regulation in China.”

Chinese officials were not available for comment outside of normal business hours.

Mr Musk departed Shanghai on Thursday, wrapping up a two-day trip to China in which he met senior Chinese government officials, including the highest-ranking Vice Premier.

Mr Musk met with China's Foreign, Commerce and industry Ministers in Beijing. He also met with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Wednesday, a source said.

China's cyber space regulator unveiled draft measures in April for managing generative artificial intelligence services, saying it wants companies to submit security assessments to authorities before they launch their offerings to the public.

Several governments are considering how to mitigate the dangers of the emerging technology, which has experienced a boom in investment and consumer popularity in recent months after the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT.

In April, the Cyberspace Administration of China said Beijing supported AI innovation and application and encouraged the use of safe and reliable software, tools and data resources, but content generated by generative AI had to be in line with the country's core socialist values.

Providers will be responsible for the legitimacy of data used to train generative AI products and measures should be taken to prevent discrimination when designing algorithms and training data, it said.