BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police on Tuesday highlighted AI-related misinformation and fabricated claims about vehicle accidents as part of a crackdown on online rumors to protect the lawful rights and interests of businesses.
AI was involved in several of the 14 cases released by the cybersecurity arm of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), either as a tool for fabricating content or as the subject of false claims.
In one case in Shangqiu, Henan Province in central China, police said a man surnamed Xue used AI tools to create a fake video depicting a car crash and posted it on the popular video-sharing platform Douyin.
In another case, police in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, said a man fabricated claims that an official video released by a company showing a drifting maneuver had been generated using AI, and that a car equipped with an autonomous-driving system had hit a sanitation worker.
Police said the actions damaged the reputations of the related companies and their products, and caused concern among their users.
In most cases, the individuals involved received administrative penalties, with one potentially facing criminal charges.
As AI rapidly advances and becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life worldwide, its misuse is raising new concerns, from deepfake scams and identity fraud to the spread of AI-generated misinformation.
China is moving to strengthen its legal framework for AI. The Supreme People's Court is developing judicial policies on AI and data rights, while the country's top legislature has added related legislation to its preliminary legislative agenda.
Measures that took effect in September 2025 require service providers to add explicit labels to AI-generated and synthetic content, including text, audio, images, videos and virtual scenes.
Chinese police investigated more than 170 cases involving the use of AI tools to generate online rumors in the first half of this year, said Jiang Guoli, director of the criminal investigation department in the MPS.
AUTO INDUSTRY IN THE SPOTLIGHT
In the cases released on Tuesday, automakers emerged as a major target of online rumors, with false claims ranging from fatal crashes and fires to alleged failures of autonomous-driving systems and vehicle safety tests.
In one case, police in Hohhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said a man fabricated claims that a car had killed a bridge repair worker before plunging into a river and that another vehicle had crashed into a building and caught fire.
In several other cases, suspects allegedly fabricated claims that autonomous-driving systems had caused rear-end collisions, hit pedestrians or even killed people.
By the end of June, China had 371 million automobiles on the road, according to the MPS. New energy vehicles (NEVs) numbered 48.97 million, and 68.77 percent of them were pure electric vehicles.
China's auto industry has expanded rapidly in recent years, giving rise to a new generation of homegrown brands focused on electric and other NEVs, such as Li Auto, NIO, BYD and Xiaomi.
As these emerging technologies gain traction, they naturally attract public attention -- and can also become fertile ground for speculation and misinformation.
After an electric car caught fire in east China's Jiangxi Province in June, footage of the incident quickly circulated on social media.
The automaker said that its data showed the vehicle's power battery had been operating normally before the fire, with no signs of thermal runaway, and that battery self-ignition had been preliminarily ruled out.
China has taken steps to strengthen legal protections for private businesses. In May 2025, it enacted a landmark law to promote the private sector, which contributes more than 60 percent of China's GDP.
The law aims to optimize the sector's development environment, ensure fair market competition, and promote the growth of both the private economy and private entrepreneurs.
Notably, the police crackdown on online rumors comes as authorities have also moved against efforts to manipulate online reviews.
In May, police announced cases involving paid services to remove negative product reviews, underscoring the role of online platforms as channels for consumer feedback as well as the need to curb their misuse.
For the first time, NEV sales in China accounted for more than 60 percent of the monthly new-car sales in July, while the cumulative share for the first seven months of the year also surpassed 50 percent, industry data showed earlier this month. ■
