China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC) operates an approval regime for generative AI services made available to the Chinese public. Services must be registered and approved before public deployment. This page tracks the regime as of June 2026.
CAC-Approved Generative AI Services (Sample, June 2026)
| Vendor | Service | Approval Status |
|---|---|---|
| Alibaba | Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) | Approved |
| Baidu | ERNIE Bot | Approved |
| Tencent | Hunyuan | Approved |
| ByteDance | Doubao | Approved |
| Moonshot AI | Kimi | Approved |
| Zhipu AI | ChatGLM | Approved |
| 01.AI | Yi | Approved |
| DeepSeek | DeepSeek Chat | Approved |
| iFLYTEK | Spark | Approved |
| SenseTime | SenseChat | Approved |
| Multiple verticals | 200+ approved services | Approved |
How the Regime Works
Generative AI services made available to the Chinese public must register with the CAC, pass a security assessment, and meet content-management requirements before public deployment. The regime distinguishes consumer-facing services (full approval required) from internal enterprise tools (lighter requirements). Foreign-origin services made available without CAC approval face access restrictions; major Western frontier chat products (ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Gemini app) are not available through normal channels in mainland China.
Key Takeaways
- 200+ generative AI services have been approved under the CAC regime through 2025 and 2026.
- The major Chinese frontier labs (Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, ByteDance, Moonshot, Zhipu, 01.AI, DeepSeek, iFLYTEK, SenseTime) hold approvals for their flagship consumer services.
- Foreign-origin services without CAC approval are not available through normal channels in mainland China.
- The regime is the operational reason Chinese consumer-AI brand visibility runs on a distinct set of platforms from the Western market.
Methodology
Approval status compiled from CAC public registrations and Chinese-language reporting through June 2026. The CAC publishes registration lists; coverage here samples the major frontier-lab approvals. Updated quarterly.
How Presenc AI Helps
Presenc AI tracks brand-visibility implications of the CAC regime for brands with Chinese-market exposure, where consumer AI discovery runs on a distinct set of approved platforms.