China’s government has reportedly directed major Chinese tech companies, including Tencent Holdings and Ant Group, not to offer access to ChatGPT services to the public amidst concerns over the AI-powered chatbot’s uncensored responses, Nikkei Asia reports.
According to the report, tech companies have been instructed not to offer access to ChatGPT services either directly or by third-party apps. Also, these companies will be required to report to regulators before launching their own ChatGPT-like services.
Although OpenAI’s ChatGPT is not officially accessible in China, some internet users have managed to reach it by utilising a virtual private network (VPN). Additionally, numerous third-party developers have released “mini programs” on Tencent’s WeChat social media platform that purport to provide ChatGPT services.
The move to clampdown ChatGPT on China’s ground is the latest in a series of steps taken by the government to tighten control over flow of information online in the country.
The leading state-owned media outlet China Daily in a Weibo post said that ChatGPT “could provide a helping hand to the U.S. government in its spread of disinformation and its manipulation of global narratives for its own geopolitical interests.”
The Chinese government enforces strict internet censorship and controls access to information citing reasons like political and social stability within the nation. The country in the past also has banned several major internet names like Google, Meta apps including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, YouTube, Reddit and more. Google which is the most frequently used search engine worldwide shut its operations in China due to heavy internet censorship enforced by the government.
The latest instance of censorship on ChatGPT has not surprised many technology experts. “Our understanding from the beginning is that ChatGPT can never enter China due to issues with censorship, and China will need its own versions of ChatGPT,” a tech company’s executive was quoted by the Nikkei Asia.
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