China’s AI industry showed confidence this week at a major trade fair in Shanghai that it can overcome Western restrictions, with companies rolling out cutting-edge products developed by a growing pool of young talent.
The country’s generative AI industry has seen explosive growth, with the United Nations reporting that China has in recent years been the top filer of patents for AI software that creates everything from artwork to computer code.
At the World AI Conference in Shanghai on Thursday, exhibitors were eager to showcase generative AI products, with one booth featuring realistic “watercolors” and science fiction-themed illustrations produced by software.
Meanwhile, a troupe of humanoid robots developed by nearly a dozen Chinese organizations performed for visitors, raising their hands in unison and saluting.
China could potentially benefit from its large population of tech talent, even if domestic companies were clipped by Western restrictions, said Ethan Duan, an employee at a startup incubator.
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“A sudden shutdown of access to the (OpenAI) API would certainly pose a challenge to many companies right now, but it is still far too early to say whether it will also pose a challenge after a year or two,” Duan told AFP.
Duan’s hope is borne out by statistics showing that China has expanded its domestic AI talent pool in recent years to meet the demands of its own growing industry.
According to a global AI report by MacroPolo, the Chicago-based think tank of the Paulson Institute, China was home to nearly half (47%) of the world’s top AI researchers in 2022, up from 29% in 2019.
The mood in Shanghai was positive, even amid heightened suspicion and restrictive measures from the United States and other countries targeting China’s AI industry.
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OpenAI, the US company behind ChatGPT, has accused China of using its language models to create content aimed at influencing sentiment on social media.
The company will stop providing its application programming services to Chinese developers next week.
The US government has meanwhile revoked export licenses for some American chips used by Chinese smartphone giant Huawei, after the company unveiled a new computer using an AI-enabled Intel chip.
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China’s critics say the country’s AI can be used for espionage operations.
Interest in AI products appears to have increased at the Shanghai fair, with crowds of eager visitors queuing to enter the exhibition hall and try out games and interactive exhibits.
Shi Yunlei, founder and CEO of an AI-powered healthcare equipment company, said visitors to previous industry fairs have already started asking to buy his exercise equipment, even though the products are not yet at the mass production stage.
“China’s robotics industry is still quite dynamic… everyone is working hard to find a stable direction,” Shi told AFP.
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Lyu Meixiu, a representative of software company OpenCSG, told AFP her company was “not too affected” by the US restrictions and was expanding its operations overseas.
“U.S. technology may be ahead of us right now, but we in China are also extremely strong,” Lyu said.
“I think in the future the gap will continue to narrow, or we might even continually overtake them,” she told AFP.
A speech Thursday by Li Qiang, China’s second-highest official after President Xi Jinping, to launch the conference underscored the country’s commitment to AI technology.
Premier Li urged nations around the world to adopt “more open mindsets” on AI and promote “the flow of data across borders, the free exchange of equipment and the connectivity of infrastructure.”
