China's Surveillance State Gets AI Boost: 175 Million Cameras to Be Upgraded by 2028
China is embarking on a massive upgrade of its surveillance network, equipping 175 million cameras with AI-powered computer vision and language models, enabling automated behavior analysis and text-based video search. This move is set to revolutionize the country's surveillance capabilities, shifting from reactive identification to large-scale behavioral monitoring.
China's police are upgrading millions of old surveillance cameras with AI. Manufacturers like Hikvision and Huawei now ship cameras with built-in computer vision and language models that automatically detect crowds, suspicious behavior, or unauthorized access. Instead of reviewing footage manually, officers just type a text query. Human Rights Watch warns this creates unprecedented behavioral surveillance at scale. The article China turns its aging camera network into an AI-powered mass surveillance apparatus appeared first on The Decoder.