Innovation and disruption are two buzzwords in the science and technology space for 2017, and artificial intelligence leads the technology space for delivering on these buzzwords. Tech companies are pushing the boundaries of what is possible by pouring time, talent, energy and money into researching ground breaking technology that includes self-driving cars, natural speech recognition, robots and facial recognition. Terms like “deep reinforcement learning” and a machine-learning system termed “generative adversarial networks” are garnering eyes, ears and loads of attention across the global technology community and venture capital populace.

Artificial Intelligence Boom

A recent KPMG study asserts that 2017 will be the year of AI, as companies look to take the mass of big data accumulated over the past few years and turn that data into meaningful projects that push the artificial intelligence sector forward. The Motley Fool reports that spending in AI will practically double year-over-year in 2017. They report the sector’s worth at approximately USD $644 million and project that to replicate itself in 2017 and grow robustly in 2018 and beyond, reaching as much as just over USD $37 billion in a decade. Practical uses of AI abound as the Internet of Things explodes and technology merges with lifestyle demands of consumers, pushing researchers around the globe to coordinate and layer learning upon learning.

China Poised for Rapid Growth in the AI sector

China is actively prioritizing investment in its technology sector, from individual businesses to government. In a March 2017 speech to the National People’s Congress, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered a rousing government commitment to the investment in and support of science and technology in China as he unveiled the country’s five year plan through 2020. “We will implement the strategy of innovation-driven development, see that science and technology become more deeply embedded in the economy, and improve the overall quality and competitiveness of the real economy,” Li said. Couple this with the country’s pronouncement in 2016 that the government has plans to invest about USD $15 billion in AI projects from 2017-2019 and you begin to see a pattern of dedication to achievement.

Chinese companies like Baidu, Tencent and Didi are also focused heavily on research and development and in helping Chinese businesses and technology lead the way rather than picking up on US-led initiatives. Natural speech recognition, self-driving cars and other leading edge initiatives are all being undertaken by these Chinese companies. “I have a hard time thinking of an industry we cannot transform with AI,” says Andrew Ng, Chief Scientist at Baidu, the “Google” of China.

To find out more about business investment and sales opportunities in the Chinese artificial intelligence sector, contact Cornfield & Partners at info@cornfieldpartners.com or call us on +44 (0) 20 7692 0873.

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