CCP invests 1.1B yuan in AI to promote Xi Jinping Thought

Creating a realistic fake news story can take just a few hours, and it can quickly spread across the internet. Some netizens have noted that the propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the largest AI poisoning organisation in the world. (People News/AI-generated image)

[People News]  AI is rapidly transforming human existence. However, what is surprising is that an AI strategy rooted in ideology is becoming a key initiative from Zhongnanhai.

Comprehensive media reports indicate that Xinhua News Agency Co., Ltd. has allocated over 1.1 billion yuan to create the 'Xinhua Dictionary'—an authoritative AI political information entity designed specifically for the study, research, and dissemination of 'Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.' In essence, the CCP is investing this substantial amount to develop AI that embodies Xi's ideology.

Upon the announcement of this initiative, there was significant uproar in both domestic and international public opinion. Concurrently, The New York Times revealed that the CCP is leveraging AI technology to analyse vast amounts of data, including location information, internet usage patterns, and personal privacy inquiries, to identify potential 'political risk targets' and dissenting tendencies. In simpler terms, the CCP intends to use AI to predict who may become anti-communist in the future.

These two developments are interconnected, painting a new picture of authoritarian technology under the CCP: AI in China is no longer just a tool for technological innovation and economic growth; it is being intentionally shaped into a tool for maintaining stability that reinforces personal worship, infiltrates social structures, and establishes a thought police. The technological upheaval driven by resource allocation signifies a profound shift in the logic of authoritarian governance, with AI technology in the Xi Jinping era being assigned a new authoritarian historical mission: to glorify power, solidify narratives, monitor dissent, and suppress differences.

According to documents released by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the total budget for the 'Xinhua Dictionary' project amounts to 1.12171 billion yuan. Of this, 741 million yuan is sourced from changes in raised funds, while the remaining amount is covered by self-owned funds. The allocation of these funds is clearly directed towards key areas: 160 million yuan for system construction and R&D iteration, 323 million yuan for cloud computing services, and 153 million yuan for content development. This intelligent agent is designed as an 'agent-type AI driven by mainstream values,' intended to tackle the 'dilemma of information overload and the challenge of discerning truth from falsehood.' It aims to provide document assistance, policy interpretation, and content generation services for Party and government agencies, as well as enterprises and institutions, ensuring the accurate citation and dissemination of Xi Jinping Thought. Concurrently, the New York Times reported on a predictive monitoring project by Chinese companies, which transitions monitoring from 'post-event punishment' to 'pre-event judgment.' This project utilises big data to map individual thought patterns, enabling precise targeting of 'future dissidents.'

The Chinese Communist Party is investing heavily in two main areas: not only the integration and transformation of media but also a landmark project in the digital enhancement of ideology.

Reflecting on the 2017 'New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan,' AI has long been recognised by officials as a crucial tool for maintaining social stability and improving governance effectiveness. Under Xi Jinping's leadership, this rationale has been taken to an extreme. AI is expected to create advanced platforms for ideological communication for the leader, serving as a convenient tool for upholding personal authority and acting as a significant catalyst for achieving lifelong re-election.

The investment of 1.1 billion yuan, which is equivalent to the total annual income of hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens and the monthly pension of 5 million farmers, is being funnelled into a political tool designed primarily for personal glorification and propaganda. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) consistently prioritises the consolidation of power over improving the lives of the populace, and the reinforcement of ideology over social welfare. Xi Jinping has closely intertwined his personal ideology with that of the CCP, and the emergence of Xi Thought AI indicates that AI technology has become highly politicised and instrumentalised.

Meanwhile, the CCP's totalitarian regime is advancing its control over digital upgrades, elevating political stability measures to unprecedented levels, from expansive surveillance systems to AI-driven predictive tyranny.

China has already built the largest surveillance network in the world. According to publicly available data, as of 2019, there were around 200 million public surveillance cameras in mainland China, significantly surpassing the number in the United States during the same period. By 2020, this figure was projected to rise to 626 million, and an IDC report even suggested that by 2022, the number of video surveillance installations could reach 2.76 billion, which amounts to nearly two cameras for every person. Initiatives like the Sky Net project, the social credit system, and the real-name internet policy collectively create an all-encompassing surveillance network.

The introduction of the 'AI Thought Police' signifies a transition from passive data collection to proactive intervention. Predictive tools revealed by the Xinhua Daily can create an individual's 'political risk profile' using a variety of data, including location tracking, search histories, and social interactions. This approach goes beyond traditional totalitarian methods of post-event suppression, moving towards a model of responsive and predictive governance, where potential adversaries are not merely suppressed at an early stage but are preemptively neutralised.

With the introduction of this AI thought police, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can freely define who qualifies as a dissident, a potential enemy, or a dangerous individual. It is deemed preferable to misidentify a thousand individuals than to overlook even one. Before dissent has a chance to take root, it is suppressed through warnings, interviews, and even personal restrictions and deprivation of resources. Consequently, under the unseen scrutiny of algorithms, self-censorship becomes an instinctive and self-regulating behaviour. The thought revolution has not yet been ignited, yet it is precisely targeted by data analysis, resulting in a complete loss of individual dignity and independence in the face of the AI model.

The Xi Thought AI and the AI thought police serve different purposes: the former promotes a unified ideology, while the latter seeks to eliminate dissenting voices. The CCP believes it can operate with complete security. However, historical evidence indicates that excessively constraining dissent often leads to systemic weaknesses and internal divisions. A regime that appears solid can be easily fractured by even minor incidents, potentially resulting in a collapse of power.

Despite the CCP's substantial investments in AI political tools, this 'state-led' model of AI development is ultimately inefficient in the long term. There exists an inherent conflict between the logic of a planned economy and the openness required for technological advancement. When AI is primarily utilised for surveillance rather than innovation, and when creative outcomes are politically redirected towards maintaining stability, the potential for enhancing innovative productivity is significantly curtailed, leading to a gradual decline in long-term economic competitiveness. Additionally, on the international stage, the CCP's promises of market openness are met with a trust deficit, making it challenging to compete with the American AI development model, which is based on a private ecosystem and open innovation.

An investment of 11 billion yuan is being made to develop 'Xi Thought AI', alongside significant funding for the creation of an 'AI Thought Police'. This serves as a stark illustration of the CCP's totalitarian technology veering away from the ideals of human civilisation. In the context of US-China competition, AI has emerged as a central focus. Should the CCP's AI dominate the global narrative, the world risks becoming increasingly divided, confrontational, and prone to disasters. To protect dignity, democracy, and the future in the age of AI, humanity must steadfastly uphold freedom, rationality, and diversity.

(First published by People News) △