China Launches Global AI Governance Initiative After US Announces Fresh Curbs On Chip Exports

China has launched a global AI (artificial intelligence) governance initiative, calling for "equal rights" in the development of the fast-evolving technology.

Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the initiative Wednesday on the sidelines of the third Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing.

The announcement came a day after the U.S. announced fresh curbs on the export of more advanced AI chips to China. The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday announced new rules that would restrict China's access to advanced semiconductor equipment like Nvidia's A800 and H800 chips.

"It is part of China's active effort to advance the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the core components of the Global AI Governance Initiative include a people-centric approach to AI development, upholding "mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit," promoting a testing and assessment system based on AI risk levels and supporting discussions within the United Nations Framework to establish "an international institution" to govern the technology.

It also called on countries to "oppose drawing ideological lines or forming exclusive groups to obstruct other countries from developing AI."

Last week, the U.S. and Singapore synced up their respective AI frameworks during the inaugural U.S.-Singapore Dialogue on Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET Dialogue), marking the first "successful country-to-country mapping by both countries."

"Singapore and the United States have made their AI governance frameworks interoperable," Singapore's Ministry of Communications and Information said in a press release last week.

The two countries completed a joint mapping exercise, called a crosswalk, of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework and Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority's (IMDA) AI Verify. Apart from the syncing exercise, they also announced a plan to "launch an AI Governance Group to advance shared principles" and improve information exchanges for safer and more responsible AI innovation.

The latest initiatives from three of the world's technologically advanced countries in AI governance show the race to lead the technology is heating up.

In June, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wants to "make the U.K. not just the intellectual home but the geographical home, of global AI safety regulation."

Tech companies working on AI have also formed a group, called Frontier Model Forum, to address the risks the technology can pose to society. AI startup Anthropic, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and tech giants Microsoft and Google are part of the group.

It appears China has been trying to balance regulation and promote innovation in AI. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released interim rules for managing generative AI in July. The agency said the measures "propose that the state adheres to the principle of attaching equal importance to development and security" in managing generative AI products and services.