What do we know about China’s new AI safety institute?
Left out of the international AISI network at its outset, China positions CNAISDA to take a seat at the table
In the latest piece from DigiChina, Caroline Meinhardt and Graham Webster review what’s known about China’s newly designated equivalent to the AI Safety Institutes other governments have set up in recent months.
As the global AI safety community and world leaders prepare to convene at the AI Action Summit in Paris on February 10–11, the question of who will represent China has resurfaced. Over the past 15 months, a growing number of national AI Safety Institutes (AISIs) from around the world have worked together to promote technical research and evaluations of advanced machine learning models. Yet as these efforts morphed into a formalized network of national AISIs, China’s involvement in related convenings and joint testing exercises remained uncertain.
Ahead of the Paris AI Action Summit, the Chinese government appears to have finally put forth its equivalent of an AISI. The China AI Safety and Development Association (中国人工智能发展与安全研究网络, CNAISDA), which is online at cnaisi.cn, describes itself as “representing China in dialogue and collaboration with AI security research institutions around the world.”1 On an official list of Paris summit side events and an event registration page, it is labeled as “the Chinese equivalent of the AI Safety Institute.”
Details are scarce for now: The group’s website is only in English and contains limited information. We could find only a few references to the organization on Chinese social media, where its Chinese-language name translates to the “China AI Development and Safety Research Network.” (See below for more on the name and the translation of “safety.”) It is unclear who, if anyone, leads the group. But CNAISDA appears to be China’s answer to the AISI.
More details are likely to surface at its inaugural event on February 11, but here’s what we know so far about this unusual institution. …
About DigiChina
Housed within the Program on Geopolitics, Technology and Governance at Stanford University, DigiChina is a cross-organization, collaborative project to provide translations, factual context, and analysis on Chinese technology policy. More at digichina.stanford.edu.
Confusingly, another website that was first captured by the Internet Archive in September 2024 uses the same Chinese-language name and a different English translation, the “China AI Development and Safety Network.” In late October and early November, multiple Chinese and international AI policy experts in Beijing observed that China’s AISI equivalent was not yet announced. The earlier site does not name individuals or organizations associated with it.