Hong Kong is testing out its own ChatGPT-style tool as OpenAI planned extra steps to block access

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s government is testing the city's own ChatGPT -style tool for its employees, with plans to eventually make it available to the public, its innovation minister said after OpenAI took extra steps to block access from the city and other unsupported regions.

Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said on a Saturday radio show that his bureau was trying out the artificial intelligence program, called “document editing co-pilot application for civil servants," to further improve its capabilities. He plans to have it available for the rest of the government this year.

The program was developed by a generative AI research and development center led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in collaboration with several other universities.

The system’s writing assistance functions could help draft, translate and summarize documents to enhance the efficiency of civil servants, said the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. The program’s database and large language model were independently developed by the center, it said.

Sun said the model would provide functions like graphics and video design in the future. To what degree it would compare to the capabilities of ChatGPT was unclear.

He told the radio show that industry players and the government would play a role in the model's future development.

“Given Hong Kong's current situation, it's difficult for Hong Kong to get giant companies like Microsoft and Google to subsidize such projects, so the government had to start doing it," Sun said.

Beijing and Washington are locked in a race for AI supremacy, with China having ambitions to become the global leader in AI by 2030.

China, including Hong Kong and neighboring Macao, is not on the list of “supported...