Google’s latest efforts to re-enter the Chinese market may be advancing the country’s interests in becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence.
One Silicon Valley tech giant’s latest efforts to re-enter the Chinese market may be advancing the country’s interests in becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence.
Google’s first A. I. research center in Asia will be located in Beijing, Fei-Fei Li, chief scientist at Google’s AI business, revealed Wednesday, asserting, “I believe A. I. and its benefits have no borders. Whether a breakthrough occurs in Silicon Valley, Beijing or anywhere else, it has the potential to make everyone’s life better for the entire world.”
The Chinese government, however, has a different view when it comes to the internet, advocating for cybersovereignty, and Google’s main products and services, such as the Google search engine, YouTube, and Gmail, are locked outside the Great Firewall, the country’s vast censorship apparatus.
Furthermore, the state creates an environment advantageous for domestic tech companies but often detrimental for foreign companies interested in gaining access to the Chinese market. “Chinese companies have been investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies over the past five years, and the central government has offered continuous policy support,” Global Times, a highly nationalist Chinese media outlet, wrote in October.
