Peer Watch

Spotlight on Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence

Huey-Meei Chang William Hannas
| May 2023

In late 2020, China established the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence, a state-backed institution dedicated to building software that emulates or surpasses human cognition in many or all of its aspects. Open source materials now available provide insight into BIGAI’s goals, scope, organization, methodology, and staffing. The project formalizes a trend evident in Chinese AI development toward broadly capable (general) AI.

CSET was among the think tanks mentioned in a Wall Street Journal story on China's recent tightening of restrictions on overseas access to open-source databases.

CSET's Helen Toner spoke with Axios in an article discussing China's lead over the U.S. in enacting rules for artificial intelligence.

CSET's Hanna Dohmen was quoted by the South China Morning Post in an article discussing China's recent announcement of concerns about potential risks from artificial general intelligence.

CSET’s Hanna Dohmen spoke with the South China Morning Post about the Cyberspace Administration of China's (CAC) draft regulations aimed at generative AI services like ChatGPT.

An article published by Voice of America quoted CSET's Jacob Feldgoise. Feldgoise states that the Chinese government intends to encourage Chinese scientists to make foreign chokepoints irrelevant by financing research in chokepoint technologies.

China’s Tech Money Is Now Radioactive

Foreign Policy
| February 2, 2023

A report by CSET's Emily S. Weinstein and Ngor Luong, was cited in an article published by Foreign Policy. This report focuses on the American investors who are primarily involved in investing in Chinese artificial intelligence companies.

China’s Advanced AI Research, a report by CSET’s William Hannas, Huey-Meei Chang, and Daniel Chou was cited by IndiaAI. The report seeks to determine on the basis of publicly available information (“open sources”) who in China is taking what steps toward general artificial intelligence. It also previews a CSET pilot program that will track China’s progress and provide timely alerts.

U.S. Outbound Investment into Chinese AI Companies

Emily S. Weinstein Ngor Luong
| February 2023

U.S. policymakers are increasingly concerned about the national security implications of U.S. investments in China, and some are considering a new regime for reviewing outbound investment security. The authors identify the main U.S. investors active in the Chinese artificial intelligence market and the set of AI companies in China that have benefitted from U.S. capital. They also recommend next steps for U.S. policymakers to better address the concerns over capital flowing into the Chinese AI ecosystem.

China’s AI Workforce

Diana Gehlhaus Joanne Boisson Sara Abdulla Jacob Feldgoise Luke Koslosky Dahlia Peterson
| November 2022

U.S. policies on artificial intelligence education and the AI workforce must grow, cultivate, attract, and retain the world’s best and brightest. Given China’s role as a producer of AI talent, understanding its AI workforce could provide important insight. This report provides an analysis of the AI workforce demand in China using a novel dataset of 6.8 million job postings. It then outlines potential implications along with future reports in this series.