Bill Gates tells China to learn from Japan's mistakes when it comes to innovation

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Microsoft founder Bill Gates speaks at the 2015 Boao Forum in Hainan, China. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:31pm, 30 Mar 2015

China should learn from the US and Japan's mistakes and successes when it comes to the country's state-led artificial intelligence research project, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said on Sunday.

The US billionaire philanthropist was commenting on the "China Brain" project put forward this month by Baidu chief executive Robin Li Yanhong, who suggested that the Chinese government – in particular the fast-growing People's Liberation Army – should help make the country a world leader in aritifical intelligence by adopting an open and market-based mechanism for innovation.

"It's fantastic that China is stepping up to fund more basic research, whether it's in medicine or computer science ... President Xi talks a lot about the importance of innovation. So China has a lot to contribute," Gates said in a breakfast panel with Li and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on technology and innovation for a sustainable future at the Boao Forum in Hainan province this weekend.

"You have to be careful how you structure the government's relationship with innovation," Gates said.

"In Japan, they picked some very specific goals and approaches for their so called 'Fifth General Project'. It was the wrong way to go," he said, referring to an initiative by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1982.

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