China's tightening AI regulations

中美AI争霸

Drum Tower

2026-08-11

36 分钟
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单集简介 ...

China is becoming more cautious about AI. Since the start of the year the government has tightened controls on domestic labs, intervening in cross-border deals and restricting the movement of its best talent. Now it is limiting how Chinese citizens interact with some chatbots. Is this the beginning of a new era for China's AI industry?  Guests and hosts: Sarah Wu, co-host of “Drum Tower” David Rennie, The Economist's geopolitics editor and Telegram columnist Joshua Spencer, The Economist's Asia news editor   Topics: Chinese AI Open-weight AI models AI companions  Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.
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单集文稿 ...

  • The Economist.

  • China's regulators announced new restrictions on AI chatbots for Chinese users.

  • I'm Sarah Wu, The Economist's China correspondent in Beijing,

  • and together with our geopolitics editor and Telegram columnist, David Rennie in London,

  • we're asking, how is China's AI regulation changing?

  • And what does it tell us about the priorities of policymakers?

  • This is Drum Tower from The Economist.

  • Hi David, it's great to have you back on Drum Tower.

  • I know a lot of people miss hearing your voice on a weekly basis.

  • Oh, I miss Drum Tower.

  • It's great to be back.

  • Now that you've been back in London for almost two years, how does it feel?

  • It's great.

  • I don't spend as much time in London as all that.

  • I travel constantly because I've got this new geopolitics beat,

  • which basically means I'm the jet lag correspondent of The Economist.

  • But I'm not going to complain.

  • It's a great gig.

  • The one thing that I miss so much is Chinese food.

  • You can get a decent Sichuan in London and some other stuff.