ChatGPT may be blocked across China: Here’s why

OpenAI’s revolutionary artificial intelligence model ChatGPT is on the agenda these days with a different topic as well as its new model GPT-4o. The company may completely close its access to users across China in the very near future.

As you know, a technological war reminiscent of the cold war has been going on between the governments of China and the United States for a long time. In this sense, OpenAI, which is thought to be afraid of possible sanctions from the US government and does not want to deal with China’s very strict censorship laws, may completely withdraw from the Chinese market.

China, known for its censorship, is being harassed this time by ChatGPT

Of course, all the reasons are not limited to these. OpenAI may have recently discovered that the Chinese government is using OpenAI’s AI models to detect people criticizing them on social media. Sources close to the company state that ChatGPT may be unplugged before the end of the year.

Of course, the Chinese Government and many Far Eastern companies have already made preparations for this move. Already aiming to attract the attention of users in the Chinese market, companies have made announcements one after another.

According to the news reported by Reuters, Baidu offers a free pass to the Ernie chatbot with additional tokens for its flagship model Ernie 3.5. Likewise, Alibaba Cloud offers free migration to the artificial intelligence model called Qwen-Plus, while Zhipu AI OpenAI API launched a ‘Special Pass Program’ that offers promotional prices for its users.

OpenAI has not yet made an official statement that it will withdraw from the Chinese market. However, it seems that there will be a serious domino effect after the company announces this decision. It does not seem like a remote possibility that Chinese artificial intelligence companies will develop stronger artificial intelligence models, compete with each other to become the dominant power in China, and eventually, an artificial intelligence war between China and the USA…

So what do you think about these developments? Is a US-China conflict on the horizon? Do you think OpenAI will withdraw from the Chinese market? Don’t forget to share your opinions with us in the comments section.