China Shuts Down AI Tools During Nationwide College Exams

Several major Chinese AI companies, including Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent, have temporarily disabled certain chatbot features during the gaokao college entrance exams to prevent cheating. The gaokao exams are taken by over 13.3 million students between June 7-10th, competing for limited university spots. Students are already banned from using devices during the tests, and the AI chatbot serves as an additional safety net to prevent cheating during exam season. The Yuanbao and Kimi chatbots responded that functions had been disabled "to ensure the fairness of the college entrance examinations." The DeepSeek AI tool, which went viral earlier this year, is also blocking its service during specific hours "to ensure fairness in the college entrance examination." The news is being driven by students on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The gaokao entrance exam incites fierce competition as it's the only means to secure a college placement in China. This drives concerns that students may try to improve their chances with AI tools. The disabling of AI chatbots serves as a precautionary measure to maintain the integrity of the examination process. The temporary suspension of AI chatbot features aims to ensure a level playing field for all students taking the gaokao exams.