The Supreme Court clarified the rules for handling AI-related intellectual property dispute cases, with experts providing detailed explanations.

On September 7, 2026, the Supreme People’s Court issued the “Opinions on Judicating Cases Involving Artificial Intelligence in accordance with the Law”. This is the first judicial ruling document on artificial intelligence issued by the country’s highest judicial body. The opinions consist of 5 parts and 24 articles, aiming to address the challenges posed by AI to existing laws and provide clear legal bases for related disputes. The document clarifies the rules for determining liability in cases of infringement by AI-generated content, the standards for patent authorization and confirmation in AI-related inventions, and sets conditions for exemption from liability for open-source software developers. Additionally, the opinions stipulate that using AI to generate recognizable virtual images or voices without consent constitutes an infringement of personal rights. They also include “network unpacking” within the scope of privacy rights infringement regulations and make corresponding provisions for new types of disputes such as autonomous vehicle accidents and algorithmic discrimination. As there is still no consensus on whether AI-generated content qualifies as works under copyright law and whether using others’ work to train large models constitutes infringement, the opinions do not provide specific regulations at this time; further clarification will be provided after accumulating experience.