Interim Measures for Generative AI Service Management

Scope and obligations

Joint CAC/MIIT/MPS measures. Registration + safety assessment for public-facing generative AI. Aligns with Algorithm Recommendation Rules (2022) and Deep Synthesis Rules (2022).

Interim Measures for Generative AI Service Management addresses 7 contested AI-governance topics explicitly, 4 via general principles, and is in tension with peer regimes on 1 topics.

Topics governed

• governs
  Foundation Models / GPAI— Art. 2 (applies to GenAI services regardless of size)
• governs
  Deepfakes / Synthetic Content— Art. 12 (labelling) + Deep Synthesis Rules
• conflicts
  Transparency Obligations— Art. 4 + Algorithm Recommendation Rules — disclosure to CAC, not public; conflicts with EU public-disclosure model
• governs
  Individual Redress— Art. 15 (complaint channels)
• governs
  Training-Data Rights— Art. 7 (legal source + IP requirements)
• governs
  Sovereign AI Doctrine— Art. 17 (registration + algorithm filing)
• governs
  Technological Sovereignty— Art. 4 + national-strategy alignment; domestic-AI doctrine explicit
• implicit
  Development-Rights Framings— PRC has invoked development rights in UN AI debates (2024 GA)
• implicit
  Agentic AI Governance— Arts. 4, 8 (service-provision scope) — agent-like generative services fall within registration + safety-assessment obligations
• implicit
  Open-Weight Frontier Release— Art. 8 — registration / safety assessment applies regardless of weight release modality
• governs
  Synthetic Content Provenance— Art. 12 — mandatory marking of generative-AI output; aligns with Deep Synthesis Rules (2022) tagging requirements
• implicit
  AI in Elections— Art. 4 socialist values + Art. 11 anti-rumour provisions extend to election content

Enforcement record

Documented enforcement actions catalogued against Interim Measures for Generative AI Service Management (or against rules that this instrument now subsumes).

• CAC Doubao deep-synthesis enforcementCN · 2024–2024
  Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) v. ByteDance (Doubao) — Doubao deployed deepfake-generation feature without prior CAC algorithm registration; failed to embed mandatory deep-synthesis content-provenance label per Deep Synthesis Provisions Art. 16. CAC requested feature removal pending registration.
  Lesson: First named CN-GENAI-2023 enforcement against a frontier-tier Chinese AI developer. Demonstrates: (1) CN registration regime applies pre-deployment + has bite even against domestic champions; (2) cross-instrument enforcement (GenAI rules + Deep Synthesis rules) is operative; (3) remediation is rapid (weeks not years) but private — no consent decree text published.
  Source record →
• CN CAC algorithm-recommendation rectification campaignCN · 2022–2023
  Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) v. Multiple platforms: Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Taobao (named in CAC public action) — Unregistered or non-compliant algorithm-recommendation systems. Failure to provide opt-out mechanisms. Failure to register algorithms with CAC under the Algorithm Recommendation Provisions.
  Lesson: First operational implementation of pre-deployment AI registration regime. Demonstrated that CAC has enforcement bandwidth + technical capability to audit recommender algorithms at scale. Platforms responded by significantly altering algorithm transparency + opt-out flows. Cited as the working counter-example to the 'registration regimes are unenforceable' claim.
  Source record →

Cross-jurisdiction comparison

How peer instruments treat the topics Interim Measures for Generative AI Service Management governs.

°= industry self-imposed voluntary framework. Comparing a voluntary code's "governs" tint with a binding regulation's "governs" tint flattens the legal-force distinction; use the instrument-page banner for the operative status of each.

How to cite this article

Policy Window. (2023). Interim Measures for Generative AI Service Management [Wiki article — Instrument]. https://policywindow.org/wiki/china-genai-measures

Policy Window. 2023. "Interim Measures for Generative AI Service Management." Wiki article (Instrument). https://policywindow.org/wiki/china-genai-measures.

@misc{policywindow-china-genai-measures,
  title  = {Interim Measures for Generative AI Service Management},
  author = {Policy Window},
  year   = {2023},
  howpublished = {CAC Order No. 15},
  url    = {https://policywindow.org/wiki/china-genai-measures},
  note   = {Primary source: https://www.cac.gov.cn/2023-07/13/c_1690898327029107.htm}
}

Related instruments

• EU AI Act · EU
• Executive Order 14110 on Safe, Secure, Trustworthy AI · US
• G7 Hiroshima AI Process Code of Conduct · G7
• NIST AI RMF Generative AI Profile · US
• India Digital Personal Data Protection Act + AI Advisory (MEITY) · IN
• Brazil AI Bill (PL 2338/2023) · BR
• White House Voluntary AI Commitments · US
• Singapore Model AI Governance Framework for Generative AI · SG