China’s big push for mass use of AI: Approves 14 LLMs for public release, over 40 in last 6 months

Beijing wants the people of China, along with small-scale Chinese industries to adopt AI and use it on a massive scale. The communist country, which has had a tight grip on what sort of LLMs and AI applications are available to the public has loosened its grip and is allowing all sorts of LLMs to be released to the public.

China has now granted approval for the first batch of large language models (LLMs) this year, marking a significant stride in the country’s AI landscape.

With 14 LLMs and enterprise applications receiving the green light for commercial use, major tech players like Xiaomi, Beijing Fourth Paradigm Technology Co, and 01.AI are among the beneficiaries, as reported by local media and company announcements. This brings the total number of LLMs and AI applications available in the country to 40.

This move follows Beijing’s requirement, implemented in August last year, for tech companies to obtain regulatory approval before making their LLMs available to the public. The approach reflects China’s dual focus on advancing AI technology while maintaining oversight and control.

The newly approved batch includes industry-specific LLMs, signalling a shift towards leveraging AI for enhanced efficiency in enterprises, in contrast to the more general AI models in previous approvals.

Notable applications approved this month include an intelligent resume-polishing tool from Zhaopin, a Chinese online recruitment platform, and chatbots from Beijing Zhidemai Tech and iReader Technology, specializing in e-commerce services and mobile content, respectively.

These approvals follow the initial release of generative AI services to the public last August, coinciding with the establishment of the China Electronic Standardisation Institute, a government body tasked with implementing a national standard for LLMs.

China’s rush to develop AI products gained momentum following the global success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. At that time, China possessed 130 LLMs, constituting 40 per cent of the global total, trailing only behind the United States with a 50 per cent share, according to brokerage CLSA. Baidu’s Ernie Bot, a prominent ChatGPT-like chatbot, reported over 100 million users in December, exemplifying the widespread adoption of AI-powered conversational agents in China.

(With inputs from agencies)