China adds Huawei, Hikvision to expanded ‘national team’ spearheading country’s AI efforts

The latest batch of 10 new national AI champions include Xiaomi, JD.com, Qihoo 360, Megvii and Yitu

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Beijing has hand-picked Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment supplier, to be part of China’s expanded team of national champions in artificial intelligence. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Published: 5:30am, 30 Aug 2019Updated: 11:07am, 30 Aug 2019

China has named Huawei Technologies and Hikvision Digital Technology as new national champions in artificial intelligence (AI), among the latest batch of companies tasked to spearhead efforts in that field.

Shenzhen-based Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment supplier, will take the lead in the research on AI infrastructure and software. Surveillance systems giant Hikvision will cover initiatives related to video perception.

The other new national AI champions introduced on Thursday at the Shanghai World Artificial Intelligence Conference include Hong Kong-listed smartphone vendor Xiaomi Corp, which will focus on smart home ware; e-commerce company JD.com, on smart supply chain; and internet security company Qihoo 360 Technology, handling online safety

Facial recognition start-ups Megvii and Yitu were tasked to cover the areas of image perception and image computing, respectively.

China now has a total of 15 national AI champions since it started this initiative in 2017.

The announcement marked the Chinese government’s stepped up recruitment of private companies and research institutions with “core technologies” to lead key projects in advancing AI development in the country, with the goal of closing the AI tech gap with the US by 2030.