Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent initiatives will help China ‘aggressively’ narrow AI gap with US
Government funding and regulatory support, deep pool of AI talent and large amounts of data gathered from businesses will boost efforts
The combined initiatives of Chinese internet powerhouses Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings are helping the mainland chip away at the lead held by the United States in artificial intelligence (AI) innovation globally.
“There’s still a huge gap between the [research and development spending of] Chinese internet companies and their global peers,” John Choi, the head of China internet research at Daiwa Capital Markets, said on Tuesday.
Choi, however, pointed out that ample government support in terms of regulation and research funding, deep pools of AI and engineering talent, private sector investment and large amounts of digital data for deploying machine-learning techniques to existing products would enable the mainland companies “to narrow that gap quite aggressively over the coming years”.
With more than 60 years of international development behind it, AI is an umbrella term covering several technologies that include machine learning, cognitive computing, natural language processing and so-called neural networks. Machine learning, for instance, is a type of AI focused on computer programs that have the ability to learn when exposed to new data.
In August, the Chinese government announced its national development plan, which included building up a highly competitive AI industry that would be worth 1 trillion yuan (US$150.7 billion) by 2030.
