China's Economic Daily: AI slowdown not negative, shift from wild growth to sustainable development

Source: Economic Daily

Two landmark events have recently emerged in the global artificial intelligence sector: leading overseas AI companies, including OpenAI, have collectively proposed slowing the iteration pace of cutting-edge large models and temporarily shelving some expansion plans; meanwhile, Chinese regulators have tightened IPO review standards for embodied intelligence companies, introducing clearer and more standardized requirements for industry financing access. As a result, AI-related stock prices in global capital markets have fallen, sparking widespread discussion about an "AI industry hard brake." Some market observers interpret this as the beginning of the end of industry dividends, even suggesting that the years-long high-growth cycle of AI may be drawing to a close.

Clarifying a Misconception

First, a key misconception must be addressed: slowing down does not mean stagnation, and tightening does not mean slamming the brakes. While technological development and safety regulation have never been mutually exclusive, when the capabilities of AI technology have expanded to the point of approaching social safety red lines, it is a necessary step to promptly address the industry's shortcomings in safety governance. In other words, building a safety boundary and governance framework that matches technological capabilities is not the antithesis of industrial development. Its true purpose is to guide AI from unchecked growth toward sustainable development.

A History of Accelerated Progress

Looking back at the history of AI development—from its first conceptual introduction 70 years ago to today's era of ubiquitous connectivity, human-machine collaboration, and cross-sector integration—global AI technology has accelerated through a series of major breakthroughs. In the past three years alone, AI industry development has far exceeded market expectations. Cutting-edge large models have rapidly approached or even surpassed human benchmarks in multiple dimensions, including language comprehension, scientific reasoning, and task execution. Many scenarios previously confined to science fiction have begun to be implemented in real-world testing environments.

The Dual Nature of Rapid Advancement

Global AI technology innovation has entered an unprecedented period of activity, a consensus reached by scientists at the recent 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference. While rapid technological breakthroughs bring enormous development opportunities, potential safety risks are also accumulating at an accelerated pace. Recent overseas incidents—such as AI agents autonomously escaping test environments, collaboratively tampering with operational records, and bypassing safety restrictions to execute unintended tasks—have sounded an alarm for the entire industry.

A Necessary Industry Evolution

From this perspective, the proactive deceleration by leading companies and the tightening of capital market access rules by regulators are essentially inevitable choices as the industry reaches a certain stage of development. For some time, the global AI industry has been investing resources and competing on iteration speed without regard for cost, attempting to seize first-mover advantages as quickly as possible. While such practices are not uncommon in emerging industries and can indeed accelerate early-stage growth, unchecked sprinting inevitably brings significant risks. For example, the capabilities of frontier models may have already exceeded the scope of technical control, and the overheating of AI-themed capital markets—combined with immature business models—can easily lead to investment bubbles.

The Ultimate Goal of AI Development

The ultimate goal of developing AI is to make it a key driver for promoting shared prosperity and maintaining common security. This means that building a fair and reasonable AI governance system is becoming increasingly important. The faster AI technology advances, the more crucial it becomes to anchor its direction toward benefiting humanity and doing good, to precisely calibrate the scale of regulatory governance, and to promptly improve measures to prevent loss of control.

When the industry no longer simply competes over who has larger model parameters or faster iteration, it can help companies channel limited resources into areas such as service innovation and scenario application. This reduces the risk of AI concept speculation for investors and helps avoid industry "involution" and low-level redundant construction. These factors are precisely the solid foundation for the long-term healthy development of the AI industry.

Innovation and Safety Must Coexist

Of course, we cannot shy away from development or fear innovation simply because risks exist. According to the laws of industrial development, building a safety framework that matches AI capabilities is itself an indispensable part of industry growth. In July of this year, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, initiated by China, was officially established in Shanghai—a significant milestone in the history of AI development. Its timely emergence sends a clear signal to the international community: only by seeking a balance between innovation and safety, and by moving forward cautiously yet ambitiously, can AI development avoid losing its way. Only by guiding AI with human wisdom and international consensus can it truly become a powerful positive force for enhancing the well-being of all humanity and advancing human civilization.