Man Arrested for Spreading Fake News with ChatGPT in China's First AI Chatbot Criminal Case

Police in China have detained a man for allegedly using Microsoft-backed AI chatbot ChatGPT to generate fake news and posting it online for profit.

Credits: Handout/ Gansu Public Security Department

This is the country's first criminal case related to an AI chatbot. According to the police statement, the suspect, surnamed Hong, fabricated a report about a train crash, which received about 15,000 views.

ChatGPT is banned in China, but internet users can still access it using VPNs. Train crashes have been a sensitive topic in China since 2011.

Hong was apprehended in southern Guangdong province on May 5 and the Gansu police charged him with "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." This arrest marks the first of its kind in Gansu since the new regulations were enacted in January to curb the use of deep fakes, referring to realistic textual and visual content generated by AI. The legislation prohibits users from creating deep fake content on subjects already banned by existing laws on China's heavily censored internet.

The arrest occurred during a 100-day campaign launched in March by the internet branch of the Ministry of Public Security to crack down on internet rumors. Additionally, Chinese internet giants such as Baidu and Alibaba have launched their own versions of the ChatGPT service to compete with OpenAI. The cyberspace regulator's draft guidelines, issued last month, require generative AI services to undergo security reviews before operating. Service providers must also verify users' real identities and provide details about their data, algorithms and other technical information.

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• A man has been detained in China for using ChatGPT to spread fake news online for profit.

• ChatGPT is banned in China, but internet users can still access it using VPNs.

• This is China's first criminal case related to an AI chatbot.

• Deep fakes, referring to highly realistic textual and visual content generated by AI, are prohibited under new legislation.

• Chinese internet giants such as Baidu and Alibaba have launched their own versions of the ChatGPT service.

• Generative AI services will be required to undergo security reviews before operating under the regulator's draft guidelines.