Baidu, Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings and iFlyTek have been called on by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology to spearhead the development of new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and create open innovation platforms. Published: 4:45pm, 21 Nov, 2017 The government has also set up a special committee for AI in China that will be chaired by Wang Qishan, China’s minister of science and technology. While supporters have underscored the open-source nature of the initiative, some have questioned the elevation of big firms as "national champions", claiming smaller start-ups will be crowded out.
Baidu, Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings and iFlyTek have been called on by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology to spearhead the development of new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and create open innovation platforms. The government has also set up a special committee for AI in China that will be chaired by Wang Qishan, China’s minister of science and technology. While supporters have underscored the open-source nature of the initiative, some have questioned the elevation of big firms as "national champions", claiming smaller start-ups will be crowded out.