New | The future is here: China sounds a clarion call on AI funding, policies to surpass US
Artificial intelligence has made its way on to the agenda of the government’s annual political show in Beijing, urged on by the country’s business and technology elites
China’s government is preparing for a war of sorts with the United States to claim the vantage point to define the technological trend for the next generation.
At the annual meeting of China’s parliament this week, the usual Communist Party agenda of economic growth, social welfare, jobs, health care and pension made way for an unusual addition: a clarion call by some of China’s most influential business and technology leaders for the government to set policies to define what they consider the Next Big Thing.
They include the founder of the largest Chinese internet search engine Baidu, the owner of smartphone maker Xiaomi, and the founder of Geely Automobile, which bought Volvo.
They are tabling motions and proposals for the government to take the lead in getting Chinese enterprises to collaborate on artificial intelligence (AI) research, and facilitate the industrialising of the technology.
AI made its way into Premier Li Keqiang’s March 5 work report, a signal that it has caught the attention of China’s top decision makers. Still, that brief mention is inadequate to catapult China to worldwide leadership.