Smartwatch insults Chinese as authorities struggle to tame AI

The 360 company advertises its 360 Kid's Smartwatch on its website, Aug. 30, 2024. Alex Colville, a researcher at the U.S.-based China Media Project, first reported the 360 Kid's Smartwatch incident on Aug. 27, 2024. FILE - A woman walks past portraits of late Chinese leaders, including the still-revered Mao Zedong, center, at the Wangfujing Shopping Street in Beijing on April 11, 2024.

Technology analysts say a Chinese company’s smartwatch directs racist insults at Chinese people and challenges their historic inventions, showing the challenges authorities there face in trying to control content from artificial intelligence and similar software.