China using AI in 'Zero Trust' system to spot corruption

CHINA — China has developed an anti-corruption AI system called "Zero Trust" to help identify corrupt public officials.
According to the SCMP, it was developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Communist Party's internal control institutions to monitor, evaluate or intervene in the work and personal life of public servants.
Zero Trust can cross-reference more than 150 protected databases in central and local governments systems, reports the SCMP.
The system is designed to detect property transfers, infrastructure construction, land purchases and house demolitions, according to one researcher involved with the program, according the SCMP.
Researchers built the system to detect unusual increases in bank savings, new car purchases or bidding for government contracts under the name of the official or one of his or her family or friends.
The system then calculates a probability for those actions to be corrupt and if authorities need to be alerted.

According to the SCMP, Zero Trust was only rolled out in 30 counties and cities, but managed to catch 8,721 government officials engaging in embezzlement, abuse of power, misuse of government funds and nepotism.
Only some were sentence to jail time, with most being allowed to keep their jobs after a warning or minor punishment.