Police in Gansu province in northwest China detained a man named Hong, who allegedly fabricated a news story regarding a train crash that caused nine deaths.

Inspector Knacker of the Gansu Yard found more than 20 accounts had posted this article on a blogging platform owned by Chinese search giant Baidu and they'd garnered more than 15,000 views.

Hong allegedly used ChatGPT to create slightly different versions of the fake news article to pass duplication checks on the Baidu-owned platform. Hong was arrested under the first-of-its kind law governing "deep synthesis technologies" which China introduced this year. Deep synthesis technologies refer to AI being used to generate text, images, video, or other media.

The law states that deep synthesis services cannot be used to disseminate fake news. China drafted the law as ChatGPT was taking off and going viral, as authorities looked to get ahead of the technology.

ChatGPT is blocked in China but can be accessed using a virtual private network.