China sets up AI standards committee as global tech race intensifies

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BEIJING, Dec 13 (Reuters) - China's industry ministry will set up an artificial intelligence standardisation technical committee focusing on developing industry standards in areas such as large language models and AI risk assessment, it said on Friday.

The 41-member committee includes representatives from tech giant Baidu 9888.HK and leading academic institutions such as Peking University, the ministry said in a statement.

Beijing is trying to strike a balance between regulating the fast-growing AI sector and promoting its development, amid global concerns about safety and ethical implications.

China has adopted a more proactive regulatory stance on AI compared to its early hands-off approach to the mobile internet and e-commerce sectors, which were largely regulated only after reaching maturity.

Last year, authorities took several months to approve public-facing chatbots, even as domestic companies developed products comparable to OpenAI's ChatGPT.

China's push for AI standards comes as global competition in the sector intensifies and as nations vie for influence over technical frameworks.

A recent report from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs suggests China aims to position itself as a standard-setter rather than a standard-taker in the AI field.

(Reporting by Liam Mo and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Kirsten Donovan)

((Ethan.Wang@thomsonreuters.com;))