China’s spy chief reveals growing fears over AI’s impact on communist party rule

The head of China’s top intelligence agency has reportedly cautioned that artificial intelligence could pose an immediate risk to the Chinese Communist Party’s grip on power and the country’s political stability.

While concerns are rising in the United States that AI could become uncontrollable and threaten the safety of the human race as Beijing frames the technology as a vital national interest. In this connection, Chen Yixin, the minister of China’s Ministry of State Security, asserted in a recent article that Communist Party control and government oversight of AI must be further intensified.

The primary risk that Chen raised concerned the stability of Communist Party rule, warning that forces with nefarious motives could use AI to produce fake video and audio propaganda campaigns targeting China.

A deepfake depicting something Chinese President Xi Jinping or a senior party official never said could disseminate instantly and lead to social turmoil; Chen AI is also transforming the paradigm of warfare. He predicted that countries able to use algorithms to identify targets and execute high-precision strikes faster will seize the tactical upper hand.

Chen’s argument is seen as the most detailed account of AI risk from the Ministry of State Security. Xi’s leadership is both nurturing and regulating AI as a strategic industry that China must master in its technological competition with the United States. While the US may worry that AI could surpass humans, China perceives a more immediate challenge to its survival that AI could erode the party’s and the state’s authority.