[Op-Ed] For AI Technology, Policies That Encourage Firms’ Autonomous Innovation Are Preferable

In the United States, companies develop AI and set ethical standards autonomously, accelerating innovation through market principles.

In China, the government regulates AI technology development and sets ethical standards, creating an ecosystem aligned with its intentions.

There are increasing cases of AI startups relocating to countries with lighter regulations because they cannot withstand the regulatory burden in their home countries.

Every year, a technology emerges that captures the world’s attention, and those technologies make their way into our lives at astonishing speed. Recently, the hottest issue has undoubtedly been AI (artificial intelligence). ChatGPT, which once seemed merely fascinating, has already become a natural reference tool in our work. AI is being used not only in areas we directly experience, but also across a wide range of industries, including mobility, robotics, and healthcare.

AI technology has become a core element of the 21st-century economy and national competitiveness. In particular, the United States and China are leading the global AI market by investing enormous resources in AI research and development, infrastructure building, and talent cultivation.

The United States places importance on the role of companies in advancing AI technology and therefore focuses on guaranteeing market autonomy rather than imposing regulation. While big tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI lead AI research, the government merely provides basic ethical guidelines. On this foundation, companies are expanding the AI ecosystem through large-scale R&D investment and the advancement of AI models, while universities and research institutions continue conducting basic AI research and focus on nurturing talent.

These research achievements are being linked to startup creation and venture capital (VC) investment, allowing American AI startups to grow rapidly by developing innovative solutions. Backed by active support, the commercialization of AI technology is also progressing quickly. Led by generative AI used in search engines and customer service, AI technology is now being applied in a variety of fields including finance, healthcare, education, and manufacturing.

China has adopted an approach in which the government exercises strong control over the AI industry. The Chinese government has designated AI as a strategic national technology and is actively fostering national AI research institutes and innovative startups to promote research into core AI technologies. At the same time, it is implementing various support measures such as tax cuts, subsidies, and regulatory easing so that companies can devote themselves to AI technology development. In addition, to accelerate the industrialization and commercialization of AI, it is pursuing data-opening policies, building large-scale infrastructure, and encouraging convergence with semiconductor and cloud technologies.

As a result of these efforts, as of 2024, the number of AI foundation models in operation in China has exceeded 200, and the number of users utilizing them has surpassed 600 million. Chinese big tech companies such as Tencent and Alibaba are developing their own AI models and applying them across various industries, while expanding AI-based services and products into global markets.

There are broadly two approaches to designing AI regulation.

First, as in the United States, companies can autonomously develop AI and set ethical standards. The advantage of this approach is that it accelerates innovation according to market principles.

Second, as in China, the government can intervene directly to regulate AI technology development and set ethical standards. The advantage of this approach is that it allows capabilities to be concentrated on creating an ecosystem aligned with the government’s intentions.

Which approach should Korea adopt in order to secure global competitiveness in the AI industry? Since each approach has its own strengths and AI technology has a major impact on society, careful judgment is needed. If government intervention is too strong, corporate creativity can be stifled, so the key challenge in building an AI ecosystem is how to calibrate the degree of regulation.

AI is a field that changes extremely quickly, making it difficult for legal regulation to keep pace. Because the speed of technological development far exceeds the speed at which regulations can be established, new technologies and applications are likely to emerge even while the government is drafting rules, rendering existing legislation obsolete. In particular, AI is not a single technology; it includes various subfields such as machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, and the pace of development differs across these technologies. Therefore, applying uniform legal regulations is difficult in practice and may instead risk stifling the development of certain areas.

Recently, there have been increasing cases of AI startups relocating to countries with relatively lighter regulations because they cannot bear the regulatory burden in their home countries. Excessive regulation is also likely to affect not only businesses but also research institutes and academia. Many AI researchers want to conduct their work in a freer environment. If regulation restricts the direction of research, the outflow of talent is very likely to accelerate.

If a system of corporate self-regulation is adopted, rapid innovation becomes possible, and market competition creates incentives to fulfill ethical responsibilities. In order to survive in the market, companies must earn consumers’ trust, and this leads to securing AI ethics and safety.

In fact, companies such as Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have established their own AI ethics guidelines and adopted internal regulatory methods. In addition, as competition among companies intensifies, it becomes more likely that technological advancement and responsible management will proceed at the same time. Of course, companies may abuse their autonomy, but as long as consumer and market oversight exists, companies have no choice but to fulfill their ethical responsibilities in order to maintain trust.

AI technology, which has emerged as an important global challenge, develops through innovation rather than regulation. Excessive government intervention becomes a factor that stagnates the industry. Therefore, rather than having the government impose direct mandates, it is desirable to adopt a direction that encourages autonomous innovation by companies. I hope Korea’s AI technology will evolve more effectively so that it can achieve global competitiveness.

Wonchul Heo, Intern Researcher, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: [칼럼] AI 기술, 기업의 자율적 혁신 장려 정책이 바람직

Author: Won-cheol Heo

Date: 2025-04-02

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=free_opinion&idx=27453