ChinAI Newsletter

The Chinese AI chip firm goes public.

Featured links

• Horizon Robotics Goes Public
• ChinAI #20
• ChinAI #265
• ChinAI #221
• Chinese AI Safety Institute Counterparts
• US-China AI Governance PhD Fellowships
• Miles Brundage — Why I’m Leaving OpenAI and What I’m Doing Next
• Moving Data, Moving Target
• The Maven Smart System and the Future of Military AI
• November 25, Monday noon (UK time) at the China Centre
• November 26, Tuesday noon (UK time) at the Oxford Martin School
• A Pregnant Teenager Died After Trying to Get Care in Three Visits to Texas Emergency Rooms

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
November 4th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-287-horizon-robotics-secures

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• How Systems Acquisition and Software Development Flaws Contribute to Military Accidents
• 1 hour, 2 min. mark
• The Limits of Safety
• Machine Failing: How Systems Acquisition and Software Development Flaws Contribute to Military Accidents
• AI’s $600B Question
• The New Artificial Intelligentsia
• On Hilke Schellmann’s “The Algorithm”
• UCLA Burkle Center webinar on my book

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
October 21st, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-286-machine-failing-the-software

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Featured links

• Coming back from “internal injuries,” AI applications are opening up overseas
• CAC solicits public opinions labeling AI-generated synthetic content 
• Scout
• Soda Science - A Conversation with Susan Greenhalgh
• New Books Network

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
October 14th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-285-chinese-llms-go-global

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Plus, detailed notes on the fifty-year effort to improve coal mine roof safety.

Featured links

• Why is (Alibaba’s) Tongyi the most popular open-source large model
• The Canary - Michael Lewis on Chris Mark of the Department of Labor
• The Fifty-Year Effort to Eliminate Roof Fall Fatalities from U.S. Underground Coal Mines

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
October 7th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-284-alibaba-qwen25-the-worlds

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Featured links

• ChinAI #269
• A Jiangsu factory installed surveillance cameras in the men’s restroom: employees complained…the company’s response: “installed incorrectly and it has been fixed.”
• China’s Comprehensive Computing Power Index (2024)
• Why is (Alibaba’s) Tongyi the most popular open-source large model?
• The three year countdown: how far has it gone with the replacement with domestic databases?
• Chinese-language coding assistant benchmark evaluation released
• Coming back from "internal injuries", AI applications are opening up overseas
• Scout
• He was in charge of the U.S. math Olympiad team for ten years
• AI has almost polluted the entire Internet
• Major changes in China’s class structure are changing the logic of governance
• If you could pick among all chip companies, which one pays the highest salary?

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
September 30th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-283-around-the-horn-16th-edition

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• Their AI lovers cheated on them
• The Canary - Michael Lewis on Chris Mark of the Department of Labor
• China’s AI firms are cleverly innovating around chip bans
• New data reveals exactly when the Chinese government blocked ChatGPT and other AI sites
• China to require labels for AI-generated content as tech brings fresh challenges

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
September 23rd, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-282-their-ai-lovers-cheated

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Plus, a detailed probe into China's new national system [新型举国体制].

Featured links

• A New-Style Whole-of-Nation Approach to High-end Machine Tools
• Made in China 2025 Key Area Technology Roadmap
• China’s Views on AI Safety are Changing — Quickly
• The Dilemma of Intelligent Computing Centers (Chinese)
• The Will of the Many

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
September 16th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-281-what-can-chinas-special

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for
• October 2022 controls
• AI will likely affect military power
• CSET book talk on
• A Growing Yard: The Biden Administration’s China Export Controls Are Ensnaring CPUs
• Frontier safety & governance post at DeepMind
• Survey of Chinese Students on AI Risks

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
September 9th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-280-sour-or-sweet-grapes-the

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• Technology and the Rise of Great Powers
• A reporter tests Chinese LLMs on how they can help with her job
• Nature
• ChinAI #277
• Book launch event
• Book talk
• Managing the Sino-American AI Race
• Interoperability in AI Governance: A Work in Progress
• The Use of Trade Remedies Against China

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
August 26th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-279-a-reporter-tests-chinese

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Featured links

• International Studies Quarterly
• 221,000 copies in print

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
August 19th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-278-technology-and-the-rise

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

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A profile of Xiaohongshu as a different kind of search engine.

Featured links

• How many times do you search Xiaohongshu every day?
• 36 percent of people
• My book launch event at Elliott School of International Affairs
• Innovation Files podcast
• Planet TikTok
• China’s Real Economic Crisis

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
August 12th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-277-the-encyclopedia-of-living

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

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Featured links

• ChinAI #267
• Shao Heng
• ChinAI #271
• Tracing the Roots of China’s AI Regulations
• AI Safety Benchmark
• ChinAI #261
• The assessments include a score for precision and recall rate
• Workplace AI in China
• With Smugglers and Front Companies, China is Skirting American AI Bans
• Cameron Tracy’s work
• 2025 Horizon fellowship

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
August 5th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-276-caicts-7th-batch-of-ai

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Featured links

• Technology and the Rise of Great Powers
• Who took all the bidding orders for large models?
• US-China Business Council report
• Book review of Technology and the Rise of Great Powers in
• Cloud Computing White Paper (2024)
• Practice and Prospects for the Application of Large Models in the Government Domain
• Podcast narrations of ChinAI newsletter

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
July 29th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-275-what-does-chinas-government

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Featured links

• Technology and the Rise of Great Powers
• After a 20 billion (RMB) valuation, who can China's large model companies still get money from?
• ChinAI #264
• ChinAI #257
• ChinAI #199
• The Promise and Pitfalls of Government Guidance Funds in China
• Elsevier’s Insights 2024 Attitudes toward AI Report
• Why We Remain Fascinated With Twisters

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
July 22nd, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-274-after-raising-3-billion

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• An Ethnic Chinese History of Computer Vision
• AI entanglements - Balancing risks and rewards of European-Chinese collaboration
• Private-Sector AI Indicators dataset
• The Era of Killer Robots is Here
• Summer Webinar Series on U.S. emerging tech policy careers
• Horizon Institute for Public Service

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
July 15th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-273-an-ethnic-chinese-history

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Featured links

• An Ethnic Chinese History of Computer Vision
• Jianxiong Xiao
• The Wudaokou Origins of China’s Large Models (ChinAI #232)
• Do China’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms Welcome State Investment?
• Is Xenophobia on Chinese Social Media Teaching Real-World Hate?
• Unit X - How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Future of War

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
July 8th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-272-long-quan-and-the-early

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Saad Siddiqui and Shao Heng track the evolution of the TC260 standard on genAI security requirements.

Featured links

• Changelog for TC260 standard — GenAI Security Requirements
• Saad Siddiqui
• International Dialogues on AI Safety
• ChinAI #262
• Ang Shao Heng
• Geopolitechs newsletter
• 2024 NPC Lecture: AI and China — History, Prospects, Challenges, Strategies and Legislation
• AI Risk Management Should Incorporate Both Safety and Security
• China’s Military AI Roadblocks — PRC Perspectives on Technological Challenges to Intelligentized Warfare
• Microsoft Bing’s censorship in China is even “more extreme” than Chinese companies

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
July 1st, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-271-key-chinese-ai-standard

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• Intelligence Revolution or "Scale" Revolution?
• Thread on Pentagon’s anti-vax campaign to undermine China’s Sinovac in the Philippines
• Teacher’s Pet
• A price war breaks out among China’s AI-model builders
• GovAI Job Opportunities

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
June 17th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-270-intelligence-revolution

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• ChinAI #256
• What is the “mother tongue” of LLMs?
• The first anonymous Chinese large model arena ranking is released
• Counting down the life and death of a star autonomous driving company
• Latest developments in the “Stanford AI team plagiarizes China’s open source model” case
• ChinAI #199
• China plans to introduce data property rights system
• After the (LLM) price war, Zhipu AI has come to the next stop — commercialization
• Beijing Cultural Review’s “AI: More than just a Technological Revolution” Issue
• This AI product has over 100 million users, ranking first in monthly active users…and some people secretly use it to make money
• How can voice actors whose voices have been stolen by AI keep their jobs?
• ETO Scout tool
• National Data Resource Survey Report
• Pekingology podcast episode
• Adam Nayman’s review

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
June 10th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-269-around-the-horn-15th-edition

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• AWS China, you should lower your prices
• AWS China, you should lower your prices
• Goldfish Memories
• Import AI 374 - China's military AI dataset; platonic AI; brainlike convnets
• Open-Source Assessments of AI Capabilities: The Proliferation of AI Analysis Tools, Replicating Competitor Models, and the Zhousidun Dataset

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
June 3rd, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-268-aws-china-not-on-cloud

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• ChinAI #261
• 797 million monthly active followers
• ChinAI #92
• May 19, 2024
• International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
May 27th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-267-caict-as-key-ai-governance

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• An Ordinary Beijinger’s Thoughts on Interacting with AI
• The State of AI Safety in China
• How China is using AI news anchors to deliver its propaganda
• CSET’s policy.ai newsletter
• China’s aging tech workers hit by ‘curse of 35’

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
May 20th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-266-an-ordinary-beijingers

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• Horizon Robotics vs Black Sesame
• NEC Silicon Valley - the Lab that Dragged Chinese Companies into the AI Era (ChinAI #220)
• 5 colleges lose Chinese flagship programs because of Defense Dept. cuts
• State of AI Safety in China (Concordia AI Spring 2024 Report Launch Event)
• The Teens Making Friends with AI Chatbots

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
May 13th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-265-the-race-to-become-chinas

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• The Chinese Computer: A Global History of the Information Age
• China’s Leap into the Information Age
• Keep your enemies safer: technical cooperation and transferring nuclear safety and security technologies
• China bets on industrial AI
• Troubling the Water
• The Cloud Under the Sea

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
April 29th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-263-a-history-of-the-chinese

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• CASS Draft AI Law v1.0-to-1.1-to-2.0
• Saad Siddiqui
• DigiChina covered this
• 16th Annual GW China Conference
• China keeps generative AI on simmer
• The Global AI Talent Tracker 2.0
• Future of Humanity Institute 2005-2024: Final Report

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
April 22nd, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-262-expert-draft-ai-law-changelog

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• Authoritative large model AI Safety Benchmark first round results officially released
• ChinAI #246
• Matt Sheehan
• CSET primer
• First Chapter of
• Thread comparing China’s GenAI model registration data w/ algorithm registry
• Caijing investigative report

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
April 15th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-261-first-results-from-caicts

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• A guide to online anonymity, from countless momos
• The Promise and Perils of China's Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
• High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy
• Differences in TC260 standards on GenAI security requirements
• Chinese Assessments of AI: Risks and Mitigation Strategies

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:
April 8th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-260-why-are-so-many-young

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

ChinAI is now six years old, which means it should be beginning to speak in simple but complete sentences, tell time, and develop a sense of humor, but let's not put too much pressure on it to hit these milestones. After all, all newsletters develop at their own pace.

…***Thanks folks for getting the paid subscriptions back up a bit in the past few weeks; if you you’ve valued the output from year six, please consider subscribing here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors). As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here.

The Rise and Fall of Technological Leadership: General-Purpose Technology Diffusion and Economic Power Transitions

How do technological revolutions produce economic power transitions? Last week, I tackled this [...]

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First published:
March 25th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-259-year-6-of-chinai-the-rise

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

translation is an art of disappointment

…***We’ve hit a bit of a lull in paid subscriptions lately, so please consider subscribing here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors). As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here.

Feature Translation: Did AI kill the translator?

Context: This FT Chinese op-ed (link to original Chinese), authored by a translator who draws on her experience doing English-to-Chinese translation work, provides some fascinating insights into the future of translation in the AI age.

Key Passages: To jump straight in, I like how she illustrated the differences between ChatGPT and Google Translate for translators.

• When it comes to content that is complex or has subtle connotations, AI translation will still be incoherent or [...]

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First published:
March 18th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-258-is-translation-already

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

March is mad

…***We’ve hit a bit of a lull in paid subscriptions lately, so please consider subscribing here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors). As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here.

Feature Translation: Can Chinese companies make Sora? This Tsinghua large model team gives hope

Context: Thanks for exercising your right to vote. In a close contest, the #6 option (link to original jiqizhixin article) won out: How are Chinese companies trying to keep up with Sora? This week we zoom in on Shengshu-AI (生数科技), a Beijing-based generative AI startup that has raised 14 million USD and boasts Jun Zhu (Tsinghua professor who co-directors Tsinghua's AI lab) as chief scientist. There are hopes and expectations that Shengshu [...]

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First published:
March 11th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-257-can-chinese-companies

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

the daikon radish cravings are in full swing

…***We’ve hit a bit of a lull in paid subscriptions lately, so please consider subscribing here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors). As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here.

Around the Horn (14th edition)

It's been a minute since our last Around the Horn issue (ChinAI #245). For new subscribers, here's a quick refresher:

• I give short previews of ten articles that could be ChinAI feature translation (all published within the past week or so, with some exceptions). The title for each preview links to the original article in Chinese.

• Readers pick next week's feature translation by replying to the email and/or commenting on the post with [...]

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First published:
March 4th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-256-around-the-horn-14th-edition

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

policy is policy and businesses is business [政策是政策，生意是生意]

…***We’ve hit a bit of a lull in paid subscriptions lately, so please consider subscribing here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors). As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here.

Feature Translation: After the Aug 2022/Oct 2023 controls, how are Chinese companies getting high-end AI chips

Context: It's October 20, 2023, and the hottest betting action in Hong Kong (just 60km from the world's top gambling hub in Macau) is on who will get the 300 newly arrived 8-card A100 servers. Total value: 800 million RMB. This is three days after the U.S. extended the scope of export controls on chips to include close substitutes for the NVIDIA A100 (which [...]

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First published:
February 26th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-255-panic-buying-speculative

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

I’m devouring Patrick Keefe's Say Nothing

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: Large Model Security and Ethics Research Report 2024

Context: The past two weeks, we’ve been covering a 76-pg. research report authored by Tencent Research Institute (TRI), Tencent Zhuque lab, Tencent Hunyuan model team, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, and Zhejiang University State Key Lab of Blockchain and Data Security. First, we’ll finish up the chapter on best practices for large model security, which features examples of what Tencent is doing in practice to protect its Hunyuan large language model. Then, we’ll look at how these researchers are thinking about value alignment in large [...]

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First published:
February 12th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-254-tencent-res-institute

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

blue-teaming is red-teaming

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: Large Model Safety and Ethics Research Report 2024

Context: At a special forum on January 24, Tencent released a 76-pg. research report on large model security and ethics. In a summary of the report (link to original Chinese), Tencent Research Institute (TRI) directly links value alignment/responsible AI to accelerated innovation in large language models (LLMs). The report consists of five chapters: 1) LLM development trends, 2) opportunities and challenges in LLM security, 3) LLM security frameworks, 4) best practices for large model security, and 5) large model value alignment progress and trends. In the next few [...]

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First published:
February 5th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-253-tencent-research-institute

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

DC had the hottest January temperature ever (80 degrees!)

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: Top 10 Events in China's Internet Governance in 2023

Context: Last year, one of my favorite round-ups was Caijing Elaw's year-end recap of ten key events in China's internet governance.

Now that another year is in the books, let's run it back with their top ten events of internet governance in China from 2023 (link to original Chinese). What I really like about Caijing Elaw's approach to these lists is the commentary from subject-matter experts that follow each event.

The ten events, in chronological order:

1. National Data [...]

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First published:
January 29th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-252-the-top-10-events-of-internet

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

I’m enjoying Wong Kar-wai's foray into C-drama land with Blossoms

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: How Many Chips Does China Import?

Context: Earlier this month, China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) released 2023 figures on imports and exports of integrated circuits. One anomaly from the data: For the first time since GAC started tracking these figures in 2005, China's chip imports dropped in two consecutive years. What gives? This week's analysis (link to original Chinese) by Semiinsights[半导体行业观察] examines changing trends in China's chip industry.

Key Takeaways: We start by looking back at the past ten years. From 2014 to 2021, China's chip [...]

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First published:
January 22nd, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-251-a-surprise-in-the-data

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

Caitlin Clark is appointment viewing

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: Large Models, Please Respond to 2023

Context: If you had to sum up China's 2023 in one word, what would it be? What were the hottest Internet events of 2023? What should recent college grads do next? Should I buy a house? These are some of the questions Tingting Cao, for Meiri Renwu [每日人物], asked six large language models — ChatGPT, Google's Bard, and four Chinese LLMs ((link to original Chinese). Their responses give some insights into differences among the models as well as a slice-of-life perspective on the hot topics of China's 2023.

[...]

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First published:
January 15th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-250-llms-summarize-chinas

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

making jambalaya with shrimp shells was the move

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: The dilemma of high idling rates in China's computing center rush

Context: Accompanying the explosion of interest around large models in China this past year, there has also been a surge in the construction of intelligent computing centers (more than 30 Chinese cities are currently building or planning to build such centers). Yet, an AItechtalk [AI科技评论] report identifies a major but neglected issue with this rush: computing centers remaining idle or even shutting down due to irresponsible investments and insufficient demand.

We’re starting 2024 off with a banger. Let's get [...]

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First published:
January 8th, 2024

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-249-chinas-idle-ai-computing

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

losers are always in the wrong [成王败寇]

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: XiaoIce Peerless (part 2)

Context: Last week, our deep history on Xiaoice, China's most popular chatbot, ended with a cliffhanger: how will it survive in a ChatGPT world of large language models? Let's find out by translating the second half of Caixian Chen and Zibo Dong's excellent piece on Xiaoice, published in AItechtalk[AI科技评论], a portal under Leiphone.

Key Takeaways: In July 2020, shortly after OpenAI releases GPT-3, Microsoft spins off Xiaoice as an independent company. Li Di, who incubated Xiaoice while he was at Microsoft's Bing division, will be the CEO. It's [...]

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First published:
December 18th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-248-xiaoice-where-do-we-go

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

newborn calves are not afraid of tigers [初生牛犊不怕虎]

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: XiaoIce Peerless

Context: For a long time now, I’ve been wanting to learn more about XiaoIce, the chatbot with 10 million active users in China. Back in August 2021, The Washington Post reported:

Xiaoice has grown so popular that she performs 14 human lifetimes’ worth of interactions each day, said Li Di, CEO of Xiaoice, which Microsoft spun off in 2020. She's busiest from 11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., when users unload their day's experiences or grow emotional. Xiaoice has 10 million active users in China.

How did XiaoIce get [...]

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First published:
December 11th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-247-xiaoice-as-a-strange-species

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

Christmas markets in Berlin are just around the corner

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: Blue Paper Report on Large Model Governance (2023): From Rules to Practice

Context: Thanks for voting for your favorite picks from last week's Around the Horn issue (ChinAI #245). At this point, I should no longer be surprised when ChinAI readers pick the most technical and “boring” (at least, from a fast-news perspective) option. Still, it's pretty cool that what won out was this blue paper report on the implementation details of China's large language model governance, a joint publication (link to original) by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) and the [...]

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First published:
December 4th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-246-the-state-of-large-model

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

ham balls and potato oles reign supreme

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Around the Horn (12th edition)

It has been too long since the last Around the Horn issue (ChinAI #239), but my initial scan through WeChat surfaced so many cool articles, so let's do another round. For ChinAI newbies, here's how it works:

• I give short previews of ten articles related to ChinAI (all published within the past week or so). The title for each preview links to the original article in Chinese.

• Readers choose next week's feature translation by replying to the email and/or commenting on the post with the number of their favorite article. *I give a little added weight [...]

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First published:
November 27th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-245-around-the-horn-13th-edition

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: Examining factors behind China's low localization rates in automotive chips.

Greetings from a world where…

I’m very jealous of my grandma going to eat crab at Yangcheng Lake

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: The localization rate of automotive chips is still less than 10%. How can Chinese automotive chips take opportunities to overtake?

Context: I used the Emerging Technology Observatory's Scout tool again to scout out this week's feature translation, from Caijing's transportation industry portal (link to original article). Here's Scout's summary:

Driven by the growth in demand for new energy vehicles, China's automotive chip sector is also undergoing rapid development. Nearly 300 companies are developing a range of chip products in areas [...]

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First published:
November 20th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-244-can-chinese-automotive

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: A prompt engineering-based game goes viral in China.

Greetings from a world where…

the Iowa Hawkeyes have mercifully announced that Brian Ferentz will not return as offensive coordinator, so we are retiring the “March to Mediocrity” tracker (see, kids, this is what happens when you speak up for what you believe in)

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: LLM Riddles

Context: Some weeks, putting together a ChinAI issue feels like work; other times, it feels a lot more like play. This week's issue definitely falls in the latter category. In fact, the feature translation (link to original QbitAI article) covers a viral game involving large language model (LLM) riddles, which quickly captured the attention [...]

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First published:
November 13th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-243-llm-riddles-how-many-can

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: JHU in the 1990s to large language models in the 2020s.

Greetings from a world where…

sisig is now my favorite food (Hawks had a bye week)

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: The Road to Speech AI (part 2)

Context: Last week, we began reading about Johns Hopkins University's Center for Language and Speech Processing (CLSP), and some of the Chinese AI researchers connected to the center. We heard stories about Peng Xu, who got his PhD at CLSP, worked at Google, and now works on large language models as a VP of Ant Group (Alibaba affiliate). We learned about Zhifei Li, who graduated from CLSP five years after Peng Xu, made important [...]

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First published:
October 30th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-242-the-long-road-to-speech

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: A history of Chinese AI researchers at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Language and Speech Processing.

Greetings from a world where…

for the rest of the college football season, this status update will be devoted to tracking the Iowa Hawkeye offense's march to mediocrity. Did you hear about that time we gained 2 total yards in the second half? Yeah, that happened this week

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: The Road to Speech AI

Context: We’ve now transitioned from the “another issue, another white paper” phase of ChinAI into the “another issue, another deep history” phase. Thanks to Zachary Arnold for sharing this longform Leiphone article (link to original Chinese), recommended by the [...]

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First published:
October 23rd, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-241-the-long-road-to-speech

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: A profile of the co-founder of Pony.ai.

Greetings from a world where…

for the rest of the college football season, this status update will be devoted to tracking the Iowa Hawkeye offense's march to mediocrity

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: Tiancheng Lou — A Profile

Context: Thanks for engaging with the previous Around the Horn issue. The winning pick was this longform profile of Tiancheng Lou, known as China's No. 1 Programmer. After gaining fame by winning basically every global programming competition, in 2016 Lou founded Pony.ai, an autonomous vehicle technology company co-located in Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Guangzhou. This Leiphone article (link to original Chinese), by Caixian Chen, profiles Lou's journey.

Key Passages:

On [...]

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First published:
October 16th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-239-tiancheng-lou-chinas-no

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: Powered (in part) by CSET's new ETO Scout Tool .

Greetings from a world where…

for the rest of the college football season, this status update will be devoted to tracking the Iowa Hawkeye offense's march to mediocrity

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Around the Horn (11th edition)

It's been a while since our last Around the Horn issue (ChinAI #228), so let's run it back. For those new to ChinAI, here's how it works:

• I give short previews of ten articles related to ChinAI (all published within the past week or so). The title for each preview links to the original article in Chinese.

• Readers choose next week's feature translation by replying to the email and/or [...]

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First published:
October 2nd, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-239-around-the-horn-12th-edition

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: Popular science writer dispels rumors about China breaking through the lithography technology chokehold.

Greetings from a world where…

for the rest of the college football season, this status update will be devoted to tracking the Iowa Hawkeye offense's march to mediocrity

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: Can China independently develop advanced lithography machines?

Context: This past week, the tech-obsessed slice of China's internet was abuzz with news that Tsinghua University had developed a new approach to producing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light sources. The ability to generate wavelengths of EUV light is important for advanced lithography machines, key equipment used to produce the chips that train fancy AI models and power our mobile phones. [...]

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First published:
September 25th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-238-can-china-independently

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: SuperCLUE-Safety, the first Chinese large-model multi-round adversarial safety benchmark, is released..

Greetings from a world where…

for the rest of the college football season, this status update will be devoted to tracking the Iowa Hawkeye offense's march to mediocrity

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: SuperCLUE-Safety

Context: Every two months or so, we’ve been checking in with the SuperCLUE rankings, which aim to benchmark large language models from Chinese and international labs along different dimensions. In the previous update to the SuperCLUE benchmark, we saw Baidu's ErnieBot soar up the rankings, on the strength of its performance with Chinese-language particularities (e.g. idioms). This past week, the SuperCLUE team released a safety benchmark (link to [...]

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First published:
September 18th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-237-safety-benchmarks-for

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Large model makers need to not only give people fish but also teach them how to fish.”

With the accumulation of capital and discourse, the craze for big models has swept the country for more than half a year, and suddenly we have entered the era of large models available to everyone.

[...]

Note:
These are Jeffrey Ding's informal and unofficial translations. The original text is linked in the episode description. These translations are part of the ChinAI newsletter, a weekly-updated library of translations from Chinese thinkers on AI-related issues.

Original Mandarin:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/1VhOEGnXPfvM6D0Uy8ea5A

---

Source:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR9zEb1Ecqx-S6MHv7iY9KOwib5BX_otSZl-n2E3jgwUTIjSSgYp8HX5fOuZ1bUXrboPBaHeRy8RF2f/pub

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: Baidu's plan to bridge the implementation gap in large models.

Greetings from a world where…

for the rest of the college football season, this status update will be devoted to tracking the Iowa Hawkeye offense’s march to mediocrity

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: Who can get Chinese companies to use large models first

Context: Earlier this month, the Chinese government approved large language models (LLMs) from eight labs to be released to the general public. The most impressive and popular was Baidu’s Ernie Bot, which responded to more than 33 million questions within 24 hours of its release. This week, however, we focus on business-end users of large models. The central motivating question [...]

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First published:
September 11th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-236-the-llm-implementation

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

sitting with Philly fans at a DC United game was an incredible experience

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: This Time, The AI Doctor is on Duty

Context: How has China’s medical field reacted to recent breakthroughs in large language models? Based on many interviews with doctors and experts, this week’s article (link to original Chinese) examines trends in this (potential) early adopter domain. Huxiu [虎嗅] is an influential platform that shares user-generated content but also publishes their own pieces on China’s science and technology ecosystem. This article is from Huxiu’s medical reporting team.

Key Takeaways: Fun translation note — some of the article’s reporting came at an event for the [...]

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First published:
August 28th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-235-gpt-medicine-beyond-imagination

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: China's viral AI-generated portrait app faces backlash on facial data collection.

Greetings from a world where…

Does school really start this week?

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: How Fabulous is Fabulous Duck (Miaoya Camera)

Context: If you’re interested in China’s data protection landscape, one must-follow public account is Southern Metropolis Daily’s Privacy Guard Team (隐私护卫队), which is connected to the Nandu Personal Information Protection Research Center. Recently, they covered the rise of Miaoya Xiangji (妙鸭相机), also translated as “Fabulous Duck,” an AI portrait generator that recently became one of China’s hottest apps. But: what happens with facial data after users upload 21 photos of their face to create an exclusive digital avatar?

***Thanks to [...]

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First published:
August 21st, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-234-the-privacy-cost-of-being

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Subtitle: Plus, Wudaokou Origins of China’s Large Models (Part 2).

Greetings from a world where…

Does school really start in a week?

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Reflections on U.S.'s investment curbs in Chinese AI firms

Regarding last week’s executive order that restricts new U.S. investment in subsets of the semiconductor, quantum, and AI fields, I will repeat what I wrote last fall during debates about the U.S.’s export ban on high-end chips to China:

When it comes to U.S.-China technology competition, the benefits of the “promote” plank will always outweigh the “protect” plank. And, when we reflect on moves like this one thirty years from now, there’s a decent chance that such “protect” actions were [...]

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First published:
August 14th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-233-wudaokou-origins-of-chinas

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Greetings from a world where…

we all make sure to drag our favorite newsletters from the promotions tab to the primary tab, right?

…As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors).

Feature Translation: A Brief History of Large Models in Wudaokou

Context: If you’ve ever been an international student in Beijing, the Wudaokou area probably conjures up wonderful feelings. Please, take me back to those Thursday nights playing beer pong at Sugar Shack. For The Washington Post’s neighborhood guide, here’s Yifan Zhang on this magical neighborhood:

To some people, Wudaokou, or WDK, which means “where five roads meet,” is where poor students and coders hang out. For others, it’s not only quintessential modern Beijing, it’s also the Center of the [...]

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First published:
August 7th, 2023

Source:
https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-232-a-history-of-large-models

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Welcome to the third episode of the ChinAI podcast, hosted by Jeff Ding.

Our guest today is Valentin Weber, a DPhil Candidate in Cyber Security at the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security, University of Oxford. He joins the ChinAI Pod to discuss his latest report, “The Worldwide Web of Chinese and Russian Information Controls,” supported by the Open Technology Fund. It presents a typology of information controls (ranging from propaganda to surveillance), compares Chinese and Russian models of information control, and analyzes the possible causes and impacts of the expanding reach of Chinese and Russian information controls. Valentin’s findings are based on his own meticulous sourcing as well as his painstaking synthesis of secondary sources, documenting the diffusion of Chinese and Russian information controls to over 100 countries over the course of thirteen years.

More broadly, Valentin is interested in how the cyber domain is changing conflicts and state strategies. His current research focuses on the integration of cyber and grand strategy, as well as on the role of information controls in state strategies. He previously worked for the International Security Department at Chatham House.

Timestamps

Briefing Checklist (0:43)

Debate the Guest (16:00)

Footnote Fever (42:40)

Trust the Process (51:45)

Get full access to ChinAI Newsletter at chinai.substack.com/subscribe

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Welcome to the second episode of the ChinAI podcast, hosted by Jeff Ding.

Our guest today is Eric Drexler, a senior research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute. He joins the ChinAI podcast to discuss the latest FHI technical report “Reframing Superintelligence: Comprehensive AI Services as General Intelligence.” In contrast to conventional views of superintelligence as an agent with unbounded capabilities across multiple domains, Eric reframes superintelligence as embodied within a bounded framework of Comprehensive AI Services (CAIS). We discuss how this alternative model may lessen some of the classic risks associated with artificial general intelligence (e.g. the paperclip maximizer) but also bring under-explored risks to the fore (e.g. supercharged addiction).

Often described as the founding father of nanotechnology, he provides a unique perspective on the pathway to superintelligence — one of an extremely perceptive systems engineer. We also examine a perspective on superintelligence from a prominent Chinese philosopher.

Timestamps:

Briefing Checklist (1:00)

Debate the Guest (20:00)

Footnote Fever (31:00)

Trust the Process (37:50)

Get full access to ChinAI Newsletter at chinai.substack.com/subscribe

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Welcome to the first episode of the ChinAI podcast, hosted by Jeff Ding.

There’s a lot of great podcasts out there that get interesting people to talk about their latest work on either the surface or the euphotic zone layer (the layer of the ocean where sunlight still penetrates); the ChinAI podcast seeks to dive into the deepest layers of a guest’s work — whether that be a new report, paper, epic poem, etc. Just like how other podcasts in different domains are structured around the guest’s newest movie or latest book, this pod will feature engagement with a guest anchored to a specific piece of text, which Jeff will have actually read in its entirety, including all the footnotes and other relevant literature.

Each episode consists of four sections:

* The Briefing Checklist (BCL): The main takeaways from the piece, with the expectation that this is a five-minute brief for a high-level principal

* Debate the Guest (DTG): Too many podcasts consist of everyone saying “Yes, I agree…and now here’s my somewhat related point.” In contrast, Jeff will say, “This is a specific claim in your report that I want to directly rebut…” and we’ll use that as a starting point for further debate.

* Footnote Fever: Jeff and the guest share their favorite footnotes in the report, investigate the underlying assumptions/indicators behind the main findings, and explore the surrounding literature which influenced the work.

* Trust the Process (TTP): Some of my favorite podcasts are ones where we get an inside-view at the process behind someone’s work (e.g. how a movie director finds the perfect location for the scene, how a soccer coach plans tactics). In this section, we want to unpack the research process, which includes how a guest’s personal story ties into their work.

Our inaugural guest is Remco Zwetsloot, a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. His writing on the security dimensions of artificial intelligence has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Lawfare and other publications. He is also a Research Affiliate and Ph.D. (D.Phil.) candidate at the University of Oxford’s Center for the Governance of AI. He has previously worked at OpenAI and holds degrees from Yale University (M.Phil., Political Science), the University of Oxford (M.Phil., International Relations) and University College Roosevelt (B.A., Social Science). Follow him @r_zwetsloot

He joins the ChinAI podcast to discuss “Strengthening the U.S. AI Workforce: A Policy and Research Agenda” a Center for Security and Emerging Technology publication he wrote with the help of Roxanne Heston and Zachary Arnold. The report argues: A prolonged talent shortage could undermine U.S. strength in artificial intelligence, and current immigration policies place the country's AI talent advantage at risk. It lays out what is currently known about domestic and global AI talent, identifies priorities for U.S. policymakers and describes policy-relevant knowledge gaps that researchers should fill.

Timestamps

Briefing Checklist (3:45)

Footnote Fever (35:00)

Trust the Process (46:15)

Get full access to ChinAI Newsletter at chinai.substack.com/subscribe

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