The AI Policy Environment of Shanghai

This chapter discusses the AI policy environment of Shanghai, focusing on the entities entrusted with AI governance and the policy documents they produced. Starting from the analysis of the two main municipal plans for AI development, it gauges the ability of the Shanghai municipal government to devise public sector AI applications that can contribute to achieving municipal goals in this area, if carried out (analytical capacity). It also assesses the ability of the municipality to create and sustain support and legitimacy for such public sector AI applications (political capacity). The findings about Shanghai’s analytical and political capacity are corroborated by looking at real-world policy initiatives that resulted from the two main municipal plans for AI development, and by identifying other digital initiatives that show the ability of Shanghai to leverage AI and other advanced technologies to improve government operations and public service delivery.