OpenAI has announced that it will begin blocking users in China from accessing its popular AI service, ChatGPT, starting July 9. Despite China not being officially supported by the company, many users and developers have accessed its services through the API. The Securities Times, a state-owned newspaper in China, reported this major development, highlighting that OpenAI has already started sending notifications to its Chinese users about the impending block.
“We are taking additional steps to block API traffic from regions where we do not support access to OpenAI’s services,” a spokesperson from OpenAI stated, confirming the news. This action is expected to impact several Chinese startups that have integrated OpenAI’s large language models into their applications.
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No OpenAI service in China
OpenAI’s services are currently available in over 160 countries, with China notably absent from this list. The company’s guidelines have always warned that users in unsupported countries could face blocks or suspensions, but this is the first instance of such a large-scale enforcement.
The exact reasons behind OpenAI’s decision remain unclear. However, last month, OpenAI disclosed that it had halted several covert influence operations, including one originating from China, which used its AI models to disseminate disinformation online. This move also aligns with increasing pressure from Washington on American tech companies to restrict China’s access to advanced technologies developed in the US.
