Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services

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Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with laws and administrative regulations such as the Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China, the Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China, the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Law on Scientific and Technological Progress of the People's Republic of China, with the aim of promoting the healthy development and standardized application of generative artificial intelligence, safeguarding national security and public interests, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations.

Article 2 These Measures apply to services that utilize generative artificial intelligence technology to provide the public within the territory of the People's Republic of China with generated content such as text, images, audio, and video (hereinafter referred to as generative artificial intelligence services).

Where the state has separate provisions for the use of generative artificial intelligence services in activities such as news publishing, film and television production, and artistic creation, such provisions shall prevail.

The provisions of these Measures do not apply to the research, development, and application of generative artificial intelligence technology by industry organizations, enterprises, educational and scientific research institutions, public cultural institutions, and relevant professional institutions that do not provide generative artificial intelligence services to the public within the territory.

Article 3 The state adheres to the principle of balancing development and security, and combining innovation promotion with governance in accordance with the law. Effective measures shall be taken to encourage the innovative development of generative artificial intelligence, and inclusive, prudent, and classified regulatory approaches shall be adopted for generative artificial intelligence services.

Article 4 The provision and use of generative artificial intelligence services shall comply with laws and administrative regulations, respect social morality and ethical standards, and adhere to the following provisions:

1. Uphold the core socialist values and refrain from generating content prohibited by laws and administrative regulations, such as content that incites subversion of state power, undermines the socialist system, endangers national security and interests, damages the national image, incites secession or undermines national unity and social stability, promotes terrorism or extremism, incites ethnic hatred or discrimination, or disseminates violence, obscenity, pornography, or false and harmful information.
2. Take effective measures during algorithm design, training data selection, model generation and optimization, and service provision to prevent discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, nationality, region, gender, age, occupation, health status, or other factors.
3. Respect intellectual property rights and business ethics, protect trade secrets, and refrain from engaging in monopolistic or unfair competition practices by leveraging advantages in algorithms, data, platforms, or other means.

(4) Respect the legitimate rights and interests of others, and do not harm their physical and mental health, nor infringe upon their rights to portrait, reputation, honor, privacy, and personal information.

(5) Based on the characteristics of the service type, take effective measures to enhance the transparency of generative artificial intelligence services and improve the accuracy and reliability of generated content.

Chapter 2: Technological Development and Governance

Article 5 Encourage the innovative application of generative artificial intelligence technology across various industries and fields, generating positive, healthy, and uplifting high-quality content, exploring optimized application scenarios, and building an application ecosystem.

Support industry organizations, enterprises, educational and research institutions, public cultural institutions, and relevant professional bodies in collaborating on technological innovation, data resource construction, application transformation, and risk prevention in generative artificial intelligence.

Article 6 Encourage independent innovation in foundational technologies such as generative artificial intelligence algorithms, frameworks, chips, and supporting software platforms. Promote international exchanges and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, and participate in the formulation of international rules related to generative artificial intelligence.

Promote the construction of generative artificial intelligence infrastructure and public training data resource platforms. Facilitate the collaborative sharing of computing resources and improve their utilization efficiency. Promote the orderly opening of public data classification and grading, expanding high-quality public training data resources. Encourage the use of secure and trustworthy chips, software, tools, computing power, and data resources.

Article 7 Providers of generative artificial intelligence services (hereinafter referred to as providers) shall lawfully conduct training data processing activities such as pre-training and optimization training, and comply with the following provisions:

(1) Use data and foundational models with legitimate sources;

(2) In cases involving intellectual property, do not infringe upon the intellectual property rights legally enjoyed by others;

(3) In cases involving personal information, obtain individual consent or comply with other circumstances stipulated by laws and administrative regulations.

(4) Take effective measures to improve the quality of training data, enhancing its authenticity, accuracy, objectivity, and diversity;

(5) Other relevant provisions stipulated by laws and administrative regulations such as the Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China, the Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China, the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, as well as relevant regulatory requirements from competent authorities.

Article 8 For data annotation during generative AI technology development, providers shall formulate clear, specific, and operable annotation rules that comply with these measures; conduct quality assessments of data annotation by sampling and verifying annotation accuracy; provide necessary training to annotators to enhance legal compliance awareness, and supervise/guide annotators to perform standardized annotation work.

Chapter 3 Service Specifications

Article 9 Providers shall legally assume responsibilities as network information content producers and fulfill network information security obligations. For matters involving personal information, they shall legally assume responsibilities as personal information processors and fulfill personal information protection obligations.

Providers shall enter into service agreements with registered users of their generative AI services (hereinafter referred to as "users") to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties.

Article 10 Providers shall clearly define and publicly disclose the applicable user groups, scenarios, and purposes of their services, guide users to scientifically and rationally understand and legally use generative AI technology, and take effective measures to prevent minor users from excessive dependence or addiction to generative AI services.

Article 11 Providers shall legally fulfill protection obligations regarding users' input information and usage records, shall not collect unnecessary personal information, shall not illegally retain input information or usage records that can identify users, and shall not illegally provide users' input information or usage records to others.

Providers shall legally and promptly handle individuals' requests regarding accessing, copying, correcting, supplementing, or deleting their personal information.

Article 12 Providers shall label generated content such as images and videos in accordance with the "Internet Information Service Deep Synthesis Management Regulations".

Article 13 Providers shall ensure safe, stable, and continuous services during their operations to guarantee normal user access.

Article 14 Upon discovering illegal content, providers shall promptly take measures to cease generation, transmission, or elimination, implement corrective actions such as model optimization training, and report to relevant authorities.

If providers find users engaging in illegal activities through generative AI services, they shall take measures including warnings, functional restrictions, service suspension or termination in accordance with laws and agreements, maintain relevant records, and report to competent authorities.

Article 15 Providers shall establish sound complaint and reporting mechanisms, set up convenient channels, disclose handling procedures and response timelines, and promptly address public complaints with feedback.

Chapter IV Supervision, Inspection, and Legal Liability

Article 16 The Cyberspace Administration, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, National Radio and Television Administration, and National Press and Publication Administration shall strengthen management of generative AI services according to their respective responsibilities.

Relevant national authorities shall improve scientific regulatory approaches suited to generative AI's technical characteristics and industry applications, formulating corresponding classification and tiered supervision rules or guidelines.

Article 17 Providers offering generative AI services with public opinion attributes or social mobilization capabilities shall conduct security assessments per national regulations and complete algorithm filing, modification, and cancellation procedures under the "Internet Information Service Algorithm Recommendation Management Regulations".

Article 18
Users who discover that generative AI services do not comply with laws, administrative regulations, or these provisions have the right to complain or report to the relevant authorities.

Article 19
Relevant authorities shall conduct supervision and inspections of generative AI services in accordance with their duties. Providers shall cooperate as required by law, providing explanations regarding training data sources, scale, types, labeling rules, algorithm mechanisms, etc., and offer necessary technical and data support.

Personnel involved in security assessments and inspections shall keep confidential any state secrets, trade secrets, personal privacy, or personal information obtained during their duties, and shall not disclose or illegally provide such information to others.

Article 20
For generative AI services originating outside China that do not comply with laws, administrative regulations, or these provisions, the Cyberspace Administration of China shall notify relevant agencies to take technical or other necessary measures for handling.

Article 21
Providers violating these provisions shall be penalized in accordance with laws such as the Cybersecurity Law, Data Security Law, Personal Information Protection Law, and Science and Technology Progress Law. If no legal provisions apply, authorities may issue warnings, reprimands, or order corrections within a time limit. Refusal to comply or severe cases may result in suspension of services.

Violations constituting public security offenses shall be punished accordingly; criminal offenses shall be prosecuted under the law.

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions

Article 22
The meanings of terms used in these provisions are as follows:

(1) Generative artificial intelligence technology refers to models and related technologies capable of generating text, images, audio, video, and other content.

(2) Generative artificial intelligence service providers refer to organizations or individuals that utilize generative AI technology to provide generative AI services (including through programmable interfaces or other means).

(3) Generative artificial intelligence service users refer to organizations or individuals that use generative AI services to create content.

Article 23: Where laws or administrative regulations stipulate that providing generative AI services requires obtaining relevant administrative licenses, providers shall obtain such licenses in accordance with the law.

Foreign investment in generative AI services shall comply with the provisions of relevant foreign investment laws and administrative regulations.

Article 24: These measures shall come into effect on August 15, 2023.