(JW Insights) Apr 25 -- Chinese research organizations and companies will emerge as major rivals of ChatGPT, said Microsoft President Brad Smith, whose company is the biggest investor in OpenAI, the developer of the AI-powered chatbot, reported Nikkei Asia on April 21.

As competition heats up among U.S. technology giants such as Amazon and Google in the development of generative AI, Smith said China will not be far behind.

"We see three at the absolute forefront," Smith said in an interview in Tokyo with Nikkei Asia. One is Open AI with Microsoft, the second is Google, and "the third is the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence(北京智源人工智能研究院)."

"Who's ahead and who's behind can change a bit from one part of the year to another, but one thing has been absolutely constant: the gap is almost always measured in months, not years," Smith said, calling the race to innovate "enormously competitive."

Generative AI, the technology behind ChatGPT, is capable of producing text and images at near-human levels of sophistication. The technology has excited the world with its potential in fields from business and the arts to education and health care, but it has also sparked fears that it could displace workers by automating many jobs. Other concerns include its potential for spreading misinformation, infringing on copyrights, compromising privacy and leaking sensitive information.

Smith argues that the solution to such concerns is not to stop innovation but rather to use and improve on existing products, according to Nikkei Asia.

Like other technologies, AI can be a tool as well as a weapon, he said, citing cyber attacks as an example.

"We should absolutely assume, and even expect, that certain nation states will use AI to launch cyber attacks, even stronger cyber attacks and cyber influence operations than we see today," he warned.

China’s cyberspace authority issued a content regulation draft for artificial intelligence (AI) on April 11, voicing clear support for innovation, promotion and application in AI algorithms and frameworks. Meanwhile, it called for efforts to ensure fair competition as domestic industry players have been intensively launching related services amid the worldwide ChatGPT frenzy.

According to the draft rules, operators are asked to report to regulators for safety reviews before providing such services to the public, and are urged not to use advantages like algorithms, data and platforms to engage in unfair competition, according to media reports.

(Gao J)