China Temporarily Disables AI Tools to Prevent Cheating During National College Entrance Exams

China shuts down AI tools during nationwide college exams

Jess Weatherbed is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews. Chinese AI companies have temporarily paused some of their chatbot features to prevent students from using them to cheat during nationwide college exams, Bloomberg reports. Popular AI apps, including Alibaba's Qwen and ByteDance's Doubao, have stopped picture recognition features from responding to questions about test papers, while Tencent's Yuanbao, Moonshot's Kimi have suspended photo-recognition services entirely during exam hours.

China Temporarily Shuts Down AI Apps to Stop Cheating During National Exams

One of the biggest concerns in education right now is how students are using artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to cheat their way through projects. But it's not just US students; China is shutting down certain AI features during important exam periods. As Bloomberg reports, China's popular AI apps will prevent photo-recognition features from working when they recognize a document that looks like an exam paper. Tools like Alibaba's Qwen, ByteDance's Doubao, DeepSeek, Moonshot's Kimi, and Tencent's Yuanbao have been temporarily frozen during exam hours. In China, if you ask these tools why the features aren't available, they'll respond in various ways to say the features are shut down to ensure fairness during exams. China's gaokao exam, also referred to as the National College Entrance Exam (NCEE), is a multi-day process that millions of students go through to try to earn a place at college. It runs until June 10, when it's expected that all the AI tools will reactivate image-recognition features. We've yet to see similar efforts to prevent cheating during exam periods in the United States. That would prove more difficult than in China, where the government has more control over these things. There are also no centralized exams for US high school students, save for the SATs or ACTs, neither of which is administered by the US government. However, AI will be used during the gaokao exams to monitor for cheating. According to China Daily, the tech will look for behavior like whispering or repeated glancing at a neighbor's paper. The report says footage flagged by AI will then be reviewed after the exam is completed. In the US, the White House has recently said it wants to promote AI tools in education. A somewhat vague executive order from April reads, "It is the policy of the United States to promote AI literacy and proficiency among Americans by promoting the appropriate integration of AI into education, providing comprehensive AI training for educators, and fostering early exposure to AI concepts and technology to develop an AI-ready workforce and the next generation of American AI innovators."

Alibaba, Tencent Freeze AI Tools During High-Stakes China Exam

China's most popular AI chatbots like Alibaba's Qwen have temporarily disabled functions including picture recognition, to prevent students from cheating during the country's annual "gaokao" college entrance examinations. Apps including Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s Yuanbao and Moonshot's Kimi suspended photo-recognition services during the hours when the multi-day exams take place across the country. Asked to explain, the chatbots responded: "To ensure the fairness of the college entrance examinations, this function cannot be used during the test period."

China's AI firms restrict chatbot features during exam season to prevent cheating

In brief: The problem of students using AI to cheat on their exams has become a major headache for schools around the world. But China has come up with a solution that could prove effective: AI companies are suspending some of their chatbots' features during exam seasons. Makers of some of China's most popular AI apps, including Alibaba's Qwen and ByteDance's Doubao, have stopped the tools' picture-recognition features from responding whenever they are used to identify and answer questions related to tests, reports Bloomberg. Others, including Tencent's Yuanbao and Moonshot's Kimi, have completely disabled their photo-recognition services during the current exam period. A Chinese user posted a photo of an exam question posed to Doubao. The chatbot responded with, "During the college entrance examination, according to relevant requirements, the question answering service will be suspended." Insisting that the question isn't related to an exam brings the same response. DeepSeek, the darling of the Chinese AI industry that sent markets into a temporary tailspin earlier this year, told users that its features were not available during specific hours to ensure fairness in the college entrance examination. China's three-day gaokao exams began on Saturday. The annual national undergraduate admission test is required for admission to higher education institutions in the country. Over 13.3 million students are taking part. It is strictly controlled to prevent cheating. Students taking the nine-hour exam, which is split across three days, aren't allowed to use laptops or phones, though China obviously thinks there's still a risk of them accessing AI tools. While students are banned from using AI in the exams, the technology is being utilized by several regions to monitor for "abnormal behaviors" during the tests, including whispers and repeated glances at another person's paper that might not be noticed by the human proctors. In the US, using tools such as ChatGPT to cheat in school exams has been endemic since last August. There have also been instances where parents have sued schools who punished their children for using AI in exams. There was even the case of a student who demand an $8,000 refund of their tuition fees after discovering that one of her professors used ChatGPT to generate lecture notes and presentation slides. Some US schools are trying to combat AI cheating by reintroducing paper tests, but the government is more focused on integrating AI into education rather than stopping it being used to cheat.

China Takes on Student Cheating by Shutting Off AI Nationwide During Exams

How do you make sure that kids aren't using artificial intelligence tools to cheat on their final exams? Easy, just flip the off switch. According to Bloomberg, Chinese AI companies have shut down their AI chatbots, rendering them unavailable while students across the country take their annual college entrance exams. Popular chatbots including Alibaba's Qwen and ByteDance’s Doubao have blocked photo recognition features from being used to identify and answer questions related to the test, while Tencent's Yuanbao and Moonshot's Kimi have cut access to photo recognition tools entirely during dedicated exam hours. The Guardian reported the same is true of DeepSeek. When students ask the chatbots why they can no longer use the features, they are told, "To ensure the fairness of the college entrance examinations, this function cannot be used during the test period,†per Bloomberg. If they try to upload an image or ask for help solving an exam question, the chatbots inform them it is "not in compliance with rules.†While the shutdown of AI features seems to be basically universal across all companies offering such services, it doesn't appear that any of the companies made public announcements of these restrictions. Instead, according to The Guardian, word of the lack of availability has been driven primarily by students on social mediaâ€"many of whom are freaking out about their inability to use the toolsâ€"and other users annoyed by being cut off from the features. “College entrance exam candidates, you are all shit,†one Weibo post spotted by The Guardian read. “I can’t use DeepSeek to upload pictures, I have to download ChatGPT again, I hope you all go to community college.†The exam period for these students in China is no joke. The exam, known as "gaokao" is a three-day affair that high school students are put through in hopes of getting a spot at one of the country's universities, which have limited spots available. An estimated 13.3 million students will take the exams this year. The exam lasts about nine hours, split across three days, and students are not allowed to use their phones or laptops during the testing period. (That is probably enough to prevent kids from accessing AI tools, but China isn't taking any chances there.) While the kids can't use AI during the exam, it seems the administrators of the test can. China Daily reported that some testing sites are utilizing AI surveillance systems that are designed to flag "irregular behavior" like students whispering to one another or making repeated glances that might not be spotted by the human proctor.

China deploys AI bans, jammers to protect college entrance tests

Students study with tablets and notebooks in a library ahead of China's gaokao exams. Major Chinese tech firms, including Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent, have temporarily disabled some AI chatbot functions during the ongoing nationwide college entrance exams, Bloomberg reports. The move aims to stop students from using the technology to cheat on the highly competitive "gaokao," which runs from June 7 to 10 and determines university placements for over 13.3 million candidates. Apps such as Qwen, Doubao, Yuanbao, and Kimi have shut down photo-recognition and question-answering features during exam hours.

Chinese AI firms block features amid high-stakes university entrance exams

Students sitting for the notoriously grueling gaokao were subject to intensive surveillance, and AI companies appeared to join the anti-cheating barrage. As more than 13 million students filed into rooms across China to sit for the notoriously grueling, high-stakes gaokao college entrance exam, they already faced strict anti-cheating and real-time surveillance measures, including facial recognition technology, metal detectors, drones and cellphone-signal blockers. Vehicles transporting the test papers -- classified as state secrets -- are equipped with video surveillance. Copies of the test are stored in steel-reinforced rooms that can only be opened by three people, each wielding their own key. China made cheating on exams a criminal act in 2015 -- punishable in some cases by prison sentences. But as technology changes the education landscape, new ways to cheat have emerged. This year, AI companies joined in, adding a new layer to the ring of walls and moats around the exam. The gaokao almost singularly determines university admission for China's high school seniors. The nine-hour test covers math, language and foreign language. Many students study for years. The ruling Communist Party argues that the standardized test is a social equalizer for the country of some 1.4 billion people. This week, as students sat for their make-or-break exams, some major Chinese AI companies appeared to freeze certain functions during testing hours, with at least one -- Shenzhen-headquartered tech giant Tencent -- explicitly citing the integrity of the test to explain why certain features were unavailable. "Dear user, to ensure the fairness of gaokao, this function is unavailable during gaokao hours. Tencent Yunbao wishes gaokao sitters all success in the exams. [Unavailable: 08:00-12:30, 14:30-18:15 on June 9 and 08:00-12:30, 15:00-17:00 on June 10," Tencent's chatbot Yuanbao said in response to attempts to upload photos of generic test papers during the exam window. Chinese AI model DeepSeek did not allow users to upload photos of test papers during the same period. Asked if photo recognition was suspended because of the exam, the chatbot answered: "yes. Deepseek Chat could temporarily suspend photo recognition for test question search during gaokao and other important exams," to prevent the technology from being used to cheat. It added that "China's Ministry of Education and other relevant departments usually orders the restriction of snap for answer search functions during important exams." It said relevant functions usually "return to normal after gaokao," and asked users to try again later. AI tool Kimi allowed photo recognition on Tuesday, but uploading failed when it detected a test exam or paper. Doubao, the AI app owned by TikTok's parent company ByteDance, appeared to suspend the uploading of test paper photos or screenshots, though other photos worked fine. A spokeswoman for ByteDance said the company did not want to comment immediately. The other companies in question did not respond to requests for comment. This year, some schools in China used real-time AI patrol and surveillance systems to check for suspicious behavior in the exam room: whispering, peeking, passing objects, answering early or using prohibited tools, Chinese state media outlets reported. It can detect the behavior during the exam and with a "post-exam intelligent search," a Global Times article said. Discovered instances of cheating on the exam have stoked past controversies. One high-profile case involved 120 university students allegedly using fake fingerprint membranes to enter the test rooms on behalf of high-paying high-schoolers in Henan province in 2014, South China Morning Post reported. Chinese law enforcement arrested more than "50 criminal suspects from 12 criminal gangs" and seized more than 100,000 sets of wireless equipment designed to facilitate gaokao cheating in 2018, the government announced that year. Many tens of millions of dollars were involved in the cheating ring. In 2016, six teachers were imprisoned for "illegally obtaining state secrets," after they were convicted for helping their students cheat on the gaokao. State-run network CGTN once broadcast a video of a huddle of parents helping one student remove his pants zippers -- a piece of metal dinged by the security detectors that nearly made him miss the test. After finally removing the metal pull tabs, he sprinted into a school building just in time. This year's multiday testing period ended Tuesday. State-affiliated Chinese outlet Global Times published photos of lines of parents waiting to greet the students with flower bouquets and high-fives. Christian Shepherd contributed to this report.

Chinese tech firms freeze AI tools in crackdown on exam cheats

Suspension comes as 13m students take four-day gaokao tests for limited spots at country's universities Big Chinese tech companies appear to have turned off some AI functions to prevent cheating during the country's highly competitive university entrance exams. More than 13.3 million students are sitting the four-day gaokao exams, which began on Saturday and determine if and where students can secure a limited spot in university. This year, students hoping to get some assistance from increasingly advanced AI tools have been stymied. In screenshots shared online, one Chinese user posted a photo of an exam question to Doubao, owned by TikTok's parent company, ByteDance. The app responded: "During the college entrance examination, according to relevant requirements, the question answering service will be suspended". An attempt by the user to tell the app "this is not the college entrance examination" prompted the same response. Another screenshot also revealed DeepSeek, a leading generative AI tool new to the Chinese market this year, was telling users that their service was not available during specific hours "to ensure fairness in the college entrance examination". Yuanbao, owned by the tech company Tencent, Alibaba's Qwen, and Moonshot's Kimi have also turned off their picture recognition functions during exam hours, Bloomberg reports. The Guardian has contacted the relevant companies for comment, none of which have made public statements about the functions freeze. The suspension appears to have been publicised largely by existing university students who have been locked out of tools to assist them in their study and assignments. "College entrance exam candidates, you are all shit," read one tongue-in-cheek complaint on Weibo. "I can't use DeepSeek to upload pictures, I have to download ChatGPT again, I hope you all go to community college." The AI suspension is not the only tool being used to prevent cheating in the gaokao exam week, which can decide a young person's entire future. Several regions have previously announced they would be using AI monitoring tools to watch for "abnormal behaviours", such as whispers or repeated glances between students, during exams. In Jiangxi province, for example, footage will be reviewed after the exam and any violations or misconduct "dealt with strictly in accordance with relevant regulations", the state-backed Global Times reports. Late last month, Chinese authorities also announced stricter entry checks at exam points, biometric identification, enhanced screening for digital devices, and radio signal blockers, state media reported. Reflecting how seriously Chinese society views the gaokao, some cities have postponed disruptive events such as public performances, delayed office starting hours and created dedicated priority traffic lanes to ensure students arrive to the test on time.

China's Tech giants put a pin on AI tools during the High Stakes GaoKao Exams, as a way to control AI-driven Cheating

With the commencement Gaokao entrance examinations, highly competitive national university entrance exam, a number of China's technology giants, including Alibaba and Tencent, have decided to disable key AI features on their platforms to prevent students from resorting to cheating. Disabling the means of academic dishonesty was deduced to be an efficient way to ensure exam integrity. Purportedly, some of the country's most popular generative AI tools, such as Alibaba's Qwen Chatbot, have been deemed suspended, specifically in functions such as image recognition and real-time content generation during the Gaokao season. The move falls coordinatively with the exam season, during which approximately 13.4 million students are registered to appear for tests that determine their career routes. This proactive stance mitigates risks of AI-assisted cheating, thereby instilling an understanding amongst the students that exploiting AI is wrong. With AI chatbots being able to analyze exam questions and offer answers instantly, authorities are worried about their potential misuse during examinations. Therefore, disabling these features during this specific time period stands to be a responsible and risk-eliminating decision, helping to maintain the inviolable nature of the Gaokao examinations amidst the growing concerns of academic integrity. Industry observers state that this is merely a temporary and tactical intervention and would not eventually lead to loss of interest in AI. This intervention is likely to be lifted once the examinations conclude. Investments made by the tech giants, like Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and Huawei, shall remain unaffected as well, even as they adapt to evolving regulatory situations. China's approach is understood to be the gold standard for its global counterparts, where they could balance AI innovations with educational and security threat-related solutions. This move underlines the significance of responsible AI governance and demonstrates a practical and governance-driven approach. This move underlines the significance of responsible AI governance and demonstrates a practical and governance-driven approach.

Alibaba, Tencent freeze AI tools during high-stakes China exam

To prevent cheating during China's crucial 'gaokao' college entrance exams, popular AI chatbots like Alibaba's Qwen have temporarily disabled picture recognition. Apps such as Tencent's Yuanbao and Moonshot's Kimi also suspended these services during exam hours. With 13.4 million students participating, the 'gaokao' is a high-stakes test that significantly impacts futures, especially for those from less privileged backgrounds. China's most popular AI chatbots like Alibaba's Qwen have temporarily disabled functions including picture recognition, to prevent students from cheating during the country's annual "gaokao" college entrance examinations. Apps including Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s Yuanbao and Moonshot's Kimi suspended photo-recognition services during the hours when the multi-day exams take place across the country. Asked to explain, the chatbots responded: "To ensure the fairness of the college entrance examinations, this function cannot be used during the test period." China's infamously rigorous "gaokao" is a rite of passage for teenagers across the nation, thought to shape the futures of millions of aspiring graduates. Students -- and their parents -- pull out the stops for any edge they can get, from extensive private tuition to, on occasion, attempts to cheat. To minimise disruption, examiners outlaw the use of devices during the hours-long tests. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Qwen and ByteDance Ltd.'s Doubao still offered photo recognition as of Monday. But when asked to answer questions about a photo of a test paper, Qwen responded that the service was temporarily frozen during exam hours from June 7 to 10. Doubao said the picture uploaded was "not in compliance with rules." China lacks a widely adopted university application process like in the US, where students prove their qualifications through years of academic records, along with standardised tests and personal essays. For Chinese high-school seniors, the gaokao, held in June each year, is often the only way they can impress admissions officials. About 13.4 million students are taking part in this year's exams. The test is considered the most significant in the nation, especially for those from smaller cities and lower-income families that lack resources. A misstep may require another year in high school, or completely alter a teenager's future. The exam is also one of the most strictly controlled in China, to prevent cheating and ensure fairness. But fast-developing AI has posed new challenges for schools and regulators. The education ministry last month released a set of regulations stating that, while schools should start cultivating artificial intelligence talent at a young age, students should not use AI-generated content as answers in homework and tests.