Multiple entities have received approval from the Chinese authorities for their large language models (LLMs), indicating that their generative AI-related services, such as chatbots and text-to-image tools, can now be made available to the general public.

Baidu, SenseTime, Baichuan Intelligent Technology, Zhipu AI, and MiniMax launched their generative AI offerings to the masses on Thursday.

While Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance are believed to have received approval, they have yet to roll out their services to the public.

Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory are also among those who secured approval.

The official list will be released in the coming week, according to Reuters.

To address potential risks of generating AI, such as disinformation, China issued a set of rules, which took effect on Aug. 15, requiring companies to seek approval from authorities before opening their services to the public.

Companies were only allowed to conduct small-scale public tests of AI products before receiving the nod.