China’s AI Surveillance: How Beijing Controls 1.4 Billion Citizens

China is increasingly relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster its surveillance capabilities and exert greater control over its 1.4 billion citizens, according to a recent report. The move underscores the nation’s growing technological prowess and its willingness to leverage AI for domestic control, even as it faces increased scrutiny from the United States.

Chinese authorities are already utilizing AI technology to anticipate public demonstrations and monitor the emotional states of inmates within its prison system, a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) details. This represents a significant escalation in the country’s already extensive surveillance apparatus.

The ASPI report highlights how Beijing’s AI tools have become more sophisticated over the past two years, being deployed to “automate censorship, enhance surveillance, and preemptively suppress dissent” amid intensifying technological competition with the U.S. The development signals a broader trend of authoritarian regimes adopting advanced technologies to maintain power.

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“China is leveraging AI to make its existing control systems far more efficient and intrusive. AI allows the Chinese Communist Party to monitor more people, more rigorously, and with less effort,” said Nathan Attrill, co-author of the report and a senior analyst on Chinese issues at ASPI. “In practice, AI has become the backbone of an omnipresent and predictive form of authoritarian control.”

Beyond strengthening internal control, the study’s authors note that Beijing is also solidifying its position as a global exporter of surveillance technology. This expansion raises concerns about the potential for similar systems to be adopted by other authoritarian governments worldwide.

China has invested the equivalent of hundreds of billions of dollars in AI, making substantial progress in research and development despite U.S. efforts to restrict the supply of high-powered chips to the country. This investment demonstrates China’s commitment to becoming a leader in the field of artificial intelligence.

Interestingly, public sentiment within China appears largely positive towards the technology. A 2024 survey conducted by global firm IPSOS found that Chinese respondents expressed significantly greater enthusiasm and optimism regarding AI compared to citizens in 32 other countries. This suggests a level of public acceptance that could facilitate wider adoption of AI-driven systems.

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At the highest levels of government, President Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of new technologies to the country’s policies. During a November meeting with high-ranking party officials, he stated that AI “presents challenges for governing cyberspace, while also offering new avenues for support.”

ASPI interprets these statements as euphemisms for maintaining power and stability. The government’s intentions are increasingly translating into concrete policies, with China rapidly moving towards nationwide implementation of AI-driven systems.

“Many of the government’s intentions and policies are now becoming reality. The report clearly shows how China is moving to use Artificial Intelligence at a national level. As soon as the digital infrastructure is ready, these things are implemented,” said Xiao Qiang, a research scientist studying internet freedom at the University of California, Berkeley.

Given the current use of AI in policing, judicial procedures, and prison operations, ASPI warns that the technology could eventually be integrated into every stage of China’s notoriously opaque criminal justice system.

How China Monitors its Citizens

The foundation of China’s surveillance network is its vast array of surveillance cameras. While precise figures are unavailable, ASPI estimates the existence of up to 600 million video cameras throughout the country.

This equates to approximately three cameras for every seven people, highlighting the sheer scale of the surveillance infrastructure. These devices are increasingly equipped with AI capabilities, including facial recognition and location tracking.

Documents from one district in Shanghai, for example, detail plans for coordinated video cameras and drones powered by AI “to automatically detect crimes and enforce the law,” including alerting police to public gatherings. The increasing sophistication of these systems raises concerns about potential abuses of power.

China’s Supreme People’s Court has also urged all courts to “develop a competent Artificial Intelligence system by 2025” for use in various judicial proceedings, including administrative tasks, according to the ASPI report. A system in Shanghai, for instance, can reportedly recommend to judges and prosecutors whether to arrest suspects or grant bail to defendants.

Authorities are also pushing for “smart prisons” where AI tools can track the locations and behaviors of inmates. In one detention center, cameras with facial recognition monitored the “residents’” expressions, signaling guards to intervene if detainees became angry. A drug rehabilitation center utilized AI-assisted therapy through virtual reality headsets.

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“A suspect caught through AI-based surveillance and tried in a court served by AI may then be sentenced, based on the recommendation of an AI system, to serve their punishment in a ‘smart prison’ incorporating AI technology extensively,” the ASPI report states.

The State Council Information Office of China and the Chinese Ministry of Justice did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment on the Australian institute’s report. Previously, Chinese authorities have criticized ASPI, accusing it of receiving funding from U.S. government agencies and lacking credibility.

“These intelligent technologies can help prevent crime and make Chinese cities much safer. However, because of the political system, the same technology can be used, and is in fact used, for political persecution,” Xiao Qiang emphasized. China’s judicial system, which answers to the Communist Party, boasts a conviction rate of over 99%.

Tech Companies Facilitate Surveillance and Censorship

Chinese companies, supported and funded by the central government, are currently developing large language models (LLMs) for minority languages – including Uyghur, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Korean – to improve monitoring and control of communications in these languages, ASPI found. This development highlights the government’s focus on extending its surveillance capabilities to all segments of the population.

The report also highlighted the role of China’s largest technology companies, which it claims are “key facilitators and implementers of the Chinese Communist Party’s online censorship policies.”

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, censors content on Douyin, the app’s version used in China, by blocking or diminishing the visibility of politically sensitive content. Tencent, a social media and gaming giant, uses AI to monitor user behavior and assign “risk scores” based on online activity, with penalties for violations on social networks, chat groups, and other communication platforms. Baidu, a search engine, sells a range of content moderation tools and has cooperated with government agencies in over 100 criminal cases, primarily involving fraud and cybercrime, the ASPI report details.

“In the online environment, AI enables real-time censorship and opinion shaping. Platforms employ automated moderation, sentiment analysis, and recommendation algorithms to reduce criticism and promote narratives aligned with the party,” explained Nathan Attrill, the report’s co-author.

The growing ecosystem of Chinese AI-powered surveillance and censorship tools has global implications: other authoritarian countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, have also begun to turn to AI to monitor their populations, ASPI asserts.

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