China’s accelerated push for artificial intelligence development shows the government’s resolve to close the gap with the US in this field.

Given restrictions on the mainland, Baidu’s AI Mate generates content based only on domestic references and avoids political queries.

Chinese AI company SenseTime unveiled its answer to ChatGPT on Monday, jumping onto the generative AI bandwagon as mainland firms race to commercialise the so-called large language model.

Shanghai currently has the largest number of intelligent chip-design enterprises in China, but it lacks top algorithm talent, experts said.

Speculation about retrenchment of workers in China’s AI industry reflects the uncertainties brought by US trade sanctions and further restrictions imposed by Washington.

Consumer foray comes as AI firm struggles to turn a profit from core AI technologies, aimed at manufacturing and surveillance.

Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, one of AI’s most influential figures, has exerted a profound impact on the country’s technology pioneers, who have gone on to start multibillion-dollar start-ups.

What happened with SenseTime reflects how growing animosity between the US and China is catching Hong Kong in the crossfire between the world’s two largest economies.

The tumult at SenseTime Group, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) software maker, showed no sign of letting up, as traders rushed to the exit to pre-empt a possible dumping of stock by corporate insiders.

SenseTime will step up development of its smart auto business , as well as aim to build an industry-leading, metaverse-enabling platform.

DeepGlint, which was added to the US government’s trade blacklist in July last year, once targeted a US$300 billion valuation.

SenseTime’s latest initiative enables it to compete in China’s nascent automated industry inspection market, which is led by major tech firms Baidu, Huawei and Alibaba.

Oppo, Ping An, SenseTime and Huawei also ranked among the world’s top filers of virtual reality and augmented reality patent applications, as interest in the metaverse continues to grow.

SenseTime, China’s AI champion, jumped as much as 23 per cent, paying off for investors who bet on its IPO despite ongoing pressure from US sanctions. The stock ended the day with a 7.3 per cent gain.

The quick relaunch and the oversubscription proves the resilience of Hong Kong’s IPO market when it’s faced with US sanctions, Hong Kong’s brokers said.

The company’s quick relaunch, a week after it was postponed, is likely to be popular, according to local brokers.

Nine investors took part in the fundraising, with Mixed-Ownership Reform Fund pledging US$200 million, sources said.

The US has added eight more Chinese companies, including DJI Technology and artificial intelligence giant Megvii, to an investment blacklist for alleged involvement in the surveillance of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

The resumption marks a quick turnaround in the fundraising plan by China’s largest AI firm, which has become the biggest corporate casualty yet of the Uygur Forced Labor Protection Act.

The halt made SenseTime, founded by a group of Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) professors, the biggest corporate casualty yet of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed last week in the US House of Representatives.

The White House has placed SenseTime on an investment blacklist over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang after the AI company cut its IPO size by more than half earlier this week.

US Treasury claims SenseTime is responsible for ‘human rights abuse enabled by the malign use of technology’.

Three Chinese tech companies are poised to float their shares in the Hong Kong stock exchange after Beijing proposed new rules requiring cybersecurity reviews for certain offshore IPOs.

Hong Kong IPO filings by SenseTime Group, Ximalaya and Shui On Xintiandi could foreshadow a brisk pace for listings later this year.

China’s carmakers are rapidly closing the technology gap with global rivals, as every new model released is smarter, cleaner and packs more intelligent features than ever before.

Founded in 2014, Hong Kong start-up SenseTime has quickly become China’s biggest artificial intelligence company.

China’s AI industry may triple to 453.26 billion yuan in value by 2025 from last year, while a broader AI-driven industry may be as large as 1.66 trillion yuan, which underscores the strategic importance of the field in the Made in China 2025 industrial master plan.

In addition to HSBC, SenseTime has tapped CICC for its potential Hong Kong listing.

Business is booming for SenseTime amid the wide adoption of facial recognition in China’s subways and its work with 127 cities to analyse everything from traffic to residential complex security.