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Artificial intelligence
TechPolicy

Chinese tech hub Shenzhen pushes action plan to boost city’s computing resources for AI development amid global rush to create more ChatGPT-like services

  • Shenzhen will build a digital platform to coordinate the deployment and use of computing resources for artificial intelligence projects in the city
  • The southern tech hub’s action plan will also involve building an AI supercomputing network for the Greater Bay Area

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Shenzhen’s initiative for more efficient coordination and allocation of artificial intelligence computing resources reflects the urgency in China to accelerate development in this field amid US trade sanctions. Photo: Shutterstock
Iris Dengin Shenzhen
The municipal government of Shenzhen, China’s southern technology hub, plans to boost the city’s computing resources to prop up local artificial intelligence (AI) development initiatives, as a global arms race to build ChatGPT-like technologies intensifies.

Shenzhen expects to solve the current shortage in computing resources, which represent critical infrastructure to develop and train AI systems such as large language models (LLMs), by building a digital platform to coordinate the deployment and use of these assets within the city, according to an action plan published on Wednesday by the municipal government on its official WeChat account.

“AI has become an important driving force of the new round of technological and industrial revolution,” the Shenzhen government’s post said. “As one of the first pilot zones for AI innovation and application in the country, Shenzhen … will strive to become a global pioneer city in AI and empower high-quality development in the city.”

In 2019, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology established the first batch of national AI pilot zones. These include the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hefei, Shenzhen and Tianjin, as well as Deqing County near Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province.
A view of the skyline of Chinese technology hub Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province. Photo: Shutterstock
A view of the skyline of Chinese technology hub Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province. Photo: Shutterstock

Under its action plan, Shenzhen will initiate the third phase of the city’s Pengcheng Cloud Brain project – an AI supercomputing facility that supports basic research and applications – by the end of this year.

Shenzhen’s initiative for more efficient coordination and allocation of AI computing resources reflects the urgency in China to accelerate development in this field amid US trade sanctions, which have blocked mainland firms’ access to most advanced semiconductors and chip-manufacturing equipment.
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