China turns its aging camera network into an AI-powered mass surveillance apparatus

China is upgrading millions of legacy CCTV cameras with AI, adding built-in computer vision and language models.

The new systems can detect behavior, search video with text prompts, and automatically flag events like crowd formation or unauthorized access.

Procurement records and industry sources say the rollout is starting in major cities and sensitive areas.

Some agencies are using local AI processing to cut cloud costs, while the move raises major civil liberties concerns.