Xi’s Competing Priorities Strain China’s Powerful Tech Regulator

By Communist Party standards, the Cyberspace Administration of China’s rise has been nothing short of breathtaking.

In just over 10 years, the regulator has morphed from a singularly minded online censor into one of the country’s most powerful administrators — with oversight of both data and artificial intelligence, two pillars of future economic growth.

But the CAC’s rapidly expanding portfolio has also appeared to leave some of its bureaucrats overwhelmed, according to people familiar with the matter. That has contributed to a sense of confusion in recent years, according to interviews with more than a dozen executives, consultants and lawyers ...