China works on AI safety benchmark as regulators target large model risks

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has started building a safety benchmark to evaluate artificial intelligence models as regulators in the United States and Europe strengthen oversight of AI security, the ministry announced. The MIIT-led National Industrial Information Security Development Research Centre is now recruiting companies and experts to co-build the benchmark, with applications due on Tuesday, according to a notice published on Monday. The institute said that current frameworks fail to meet complex safety-governance needs, requiring a standardized testing platform to support industrial compliance. The new benchmark will evaluate generative AI across six core dimensions: content safety, value alignment, robustness, fairness, privacy protection and trustworthiness, according to the notice. A hybrid benchmarking methodology will be designed to explicitly cover 31 specific safety risks across five major categories. This state-led technical approach comes as global regulators have been putting extra emphasis on AI safety as the technology advances.