China's water sector secures first generative AI model approval

The Ministry of Water Resources has announced that the Shangshan water resources large model, developed by its information center, has cleared the generative AI service filing — securing the first-ever such approval in China's water conservancy sector.

The review was conducted by the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and Beijing's municipal cyberspace affairs commission under the interim regulations for the management of generative AI services, the ministry announced in a media release late on Tuesday.

Built on national key research projects, including a program on core technologies for water-sector large models and demonstration applications for intelligent supervision of rivers, lakes and reservoirs, the model is already being used in basin flood control, intelligent monitoring of rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and smart operation and management of water projects, it said.

In recent years, the ministry's information center, together with related institutions, has built high-quality data sets, a foundational water-sector model base, business-oriented intelligent agents, capability evaluation systems and security safeguards, it continued.

The ministry said the effort focused on improving an integrated monitoring and perception system covering sky, land, water and engineering facilities, as well as high-fidelity digital flow simulation models and goal-oriented digital twin platforms.

The filing marks further progress in the standardized development of generative AI services in the water sector and will help accelerate AI-enabled water governance, deepen digital twin water system construction and raise the sector's digital and intelligent management capacity, it stressed.