Elon Musk Reveals What He Discussed With Chinese Officials

Published 7:39 am Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Since China lifted the lockdowns it put in place to fight the spread of covid-19, Beijing has been trying to attract foreign investors and businesses to help revive its economy.

The efforts to persuade international companies to continue investing in China are led by Premier Li Qiang. The idea is to show that the country remains attractive for foreign investment and to thwart the rise of India, Taiwan and even Vietnam as alternatives. 

The shutdown of China had indeed turned the supply chains of most multinationals upside down. Those companies — Apple  (AAPL) – Get Free Report is a prime example — have been seeking to reduce their dependence on China from now on.

To this must be added China’s geopolitical tensions with the U.S., which are causing speculation about a decoupling between the two leading world powers. 

It is in this context that Elon Musk, the world’s most powerful CEO, last week traveled to China for a two-day visit under close surveillance. 

The iconoclastic and unpredictable side of the billionaire CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla made the visit a geopolitical event and a must-watch for the business community. Tesla  (TSLA) – Get Free Report has a factory in Shanghai and a few weeks ago said it would open a second site.

And to add to the mystery, Musk remained silent on Twitter — a rare occurrence — during his entire visit. While he resumed his activity on his favorite platform, he made no mention of his visit and the discussions he had with the Chinese authorities.

China Is Going to Regulate AI: Musk

The techno king — as he’s known within Tesla — met high-ranking Chinese government officials, including China’s foreign, commerce and industry ministers in Beijing. He also reportedly met with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang.

For the first time, Musk has mentioned one of the topics he discussed with Chinese officials. According to the billionaire, they talked about artificial intelligence, the revolutionary technology. He indicates that the Chinese authorities have decided to regulate AI in their country, while in the West discussions about regulation are only beginning.

“It is worth noting that on my recent trip to China  I went to senior leadership there. I think we had some very productive discussions on artificial intelligence risks, and the need for some oversight or regulation,” the billionaire said during a June 5 interview/conversation on Twitter Spaces with the Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“And my understanding from those conversations is that China will be initiating AI regulation in China.”

He continued: “Those were very promising discussions. And, you know, I pointed out that if if there is a digital super intelligence that is overwhelmingly powerful, developed in China, it is actually a risk to the sovereignty of the Chinese government. And I think they took that concern to heart.”

The billionaire didn’t provide further details. 

Draft Rules

Musk is among those who for many months have been sounding the alarm about the dangers of AI as an arms race in the tech pushes both major companies and startups to develop increasingly powerful tools. 

For the serial entrepreneur, this is more dangerous for humans than nuclear weapons. In March he signed a text with other tech luminaries and AI pioneers calling for urgent regulation of the technology and a pause in the development of more advanced tools.

In April, China’s cyberspace regulator announced a series of measures for managing generative artificial intelligence services. These measures are still a draft and must be submitted for review to the authorities before they could be adopted.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said that the country supports AI innovation and application and encourages use of safe and reliable software, tools and data resources, Reuters reported at the time. But content generated by generative AI had to be in line with the country’s core socialist values.

Providers will be responsible for the legitimacy of data used to train generative AI products, and measures should be taken to prevent discrimination when designing algorithms and training data, the regulator said.

The public had until May 10 to comment on the proposals. The measures are expected to come into effect sometime this year, according to the draft rules.

Forget Tesla – We’re all in on this EV stock