The use of AI for state surveillance has come under fresh scrutiny in recent reports and procurement records that show how large language models are being adopted for the monitoring of populations.
The results have contributed to a growing debate on the ethics of AI around the world, particularly as China and Western nations fight for dominance in setting global benchmarks for the technology.
The new revelations indicate that China’s surveillance system is moving from a mere camera network to an AI system that could now be used to analyze users’ behavior, process natural-language queries and help the authorities with massive surveillance.
The developments also underscore the increasing worries regarding the possible transformation of government surveillance, censorship and public safety through generative AI.
Report Links AI to Expanded State Surveillance
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has begun to shift from traditional camera surveillance to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can also forecast protests and track the emotions of prisoners, according to a report released by Canberra-based think tank The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on Dec 1, 2025, titled The Party’s AI: How China’s New AI Systems Are Reshaping Human Rights. Bethany Allen, Nathan Attrill and Fergus Ryan are the co-authors of the report.
“AI lets the CCP monitor more people, more closely, with less effort,” Nathan Attrill, a senior China analyst at ASPI, said in comments cited by CNN. He said the shift represents a move away from labor-intensive monitoring toward automated systems that can operate continuously and at scale.
The report also said AI is reshaping online censorship through automated content moderation and sentiment analysis designed to suppress critical commentary while amplifying content aligned with official messaging. ASPI said it contacted the companies referenced in its findings for comment.
Procurement Records Show AI Upgrades to Camera Networks
Separately, the Financial Times reported that its analysis of Chinese government procurement documents found local authorities upgrading the country’s surveillance camera network with on-device computer vision and large language models.
The technology reportedly enables officials to search surveillance footage using natural-language prompts and identify unusual behavior in real time.
The new procurement initiatives have been smaller than the national rollout of surveillance in the nation, with the amount of each district’s tenders ranging from about 1 million yuan to 10 million yuan.
Chinese surveillance has received a great deal of attention recently, and the United Kingdom’s policies have shifted. On April 29, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 was given royal assent, creating a new regulator for facial recognition technology. Since 2022, British government departments have also been taking Chinese surveillance cameras out of critical locations.
Separately, the South China Morning Post reported that Chinese aerospace researchers recently unveiled a large language model-based tool designed to analyze satellite imagery. In their published paper, the researchers said they plan to “further explore deployment and optimization strategies in larger-scale, real application scenarios.”
Another investigation described a database referred to as the “Dynamic Control Platform” that reportedly combines facial recognition data with visa records, hotel registrations and travel information to monitor individuals, including foreign nationals and journalists. The claims are based on leaked materials and have not been independently verified by IBTimes.sg.
AI Governance Becomes a Geopolitical Flashpoint
The revelations follow as Washington and Beijing advance their rivalry over the global governance of AI.
Despite attending the Responsible AI in the Military Domain summit in February 2026, both nations did not sign the outcome document of the summit, as reported by the JPMorgan Chase Center for Geopolitics.
China has also been building up its own international AI governance efforts. According to War on the Rocks, Beijing and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in September 2025 agreed to launch a joint network for the safety of AI in 2026.
China’s President Xi Jinping urged greater cooperation than competition between geopolitical blocs in artificial intelligence during the July 2025 World AI Conference in Shanghai, according to the South China Morning Post.
The disparity between China’s internal use of AI technology for surveillance and its foreign outreach on AI cooperation is likely to be a geopolitical flash point in the future, researchers say.
The report from ASPI also highlighted that Chinese AI surveillance technology has been used by governments outside China, such as those of Iran and Saudi Arabia, and thus the world export of AI-powered surveillance systems.
North American, European, and Asian governments are likely to keep examining Chinese-made AI and surveillance technologies and to strive to implement alternative methods of regulating and governing AI.
The question of the use of AI in surveillance and public security is expected to play a major role in the larger technology competition as Beijing and Washington search to assert themselves as key influencers in international AI standards.
