Chinese Internet search engine giant Baidu Inc. has decided to end a food-delivering drone project to focus on artificial intelligence, according to remarks made by a company executive in Beijing reported by Chinese media.
Ten Chinese Angel Firms Jointly Launch AI-Big Data Accelerator
Ten Chinese angel and venture firms, including the Zhen Fund, Innovation Angel Funds and CAS Star, have jointly launched an accelerator focused on artificial intelligence and big data.
Baidu’s Robin Li Says There Won’t Be New Unicorns Emerging In Mobile Internet Sector
The era of mobile Internet is ending and future opportunities in technology exist in artificial intelligence, Robin Li, the CEO of Internet search leader Baidu Inc., said yesterday at the third World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.
Taiwan-Based Artificial Intelligence Firm Appier Raises $42.5M In Series B Round
A member of Temasek Holdings, WI Harper Group, FirstFloor Capital and Qualgro have invested US$19.5 million as part of a series B round in Taiwan-Headquartered Appier, a company that uses artificial intelligence to help businesses grow in a cross-screen era.
China Merchants Unit Commits $13M To Artificial Intelligence Fund
China Merchants China Direct Investments (CMCDI), a Hong Kong-listed investment entity managed by China Merchants Group and First Eastern Investment Group, has agreed to commit RMB90 million (US$13 million) to Anhui Iflytek Venture Capital LLP, a fund focused on investing in Internet and artificial intelligence applications in China.
Qiming Venture’s JP Gan: Meitu Could Be China’s Next Tencent
The closing months of 2016 have been kind to Qiming Venture Partners. The US$2.7 billion-under-management Chinese venture capital firm saw three of its portfolio companies list in public markets during the past month: in Shanghai, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Baidu Hires Ex-Microsoft Executive Lu Qi To Lead Push Into AI
Chinese search engine giant Baidu, Inc. has appointed Lu Qi, formerly global executive vice president at Microsoft, and noted expert in artificial intelligence, as its group president and chief operating officer, in charge of products, technology, sales, marketing and operations.
Sinovation’s Kai-Fu Lee Says China Could Lead Artificial Intelligence Innovation
China could become the most competitive country in the age of artificial intelligence, which gives the country an opportunity to lead the world economy in the future, according to Kai-fu Lee, founder of Sinovation Partners and former head of Google China.
China Develops Own AlphaGo, But Humans Can Still Beat It
Chinese tech companies are developing their own versions of AlphaGo, a computer program developed by Google DeepMind that beat 9-dan professional Go player Lee Sedol last year. But these Chinese programs have a long way to go before reaching AlphaGo’s perfect win record versus humans, Chinese state media reported.
Microsoft Names Wang Yongdong As Global Senior Vice President
Microsoft Corporation has named Wang Yongdong (pictured), currently chief technology officer of Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group, in the latest move of a series of senior management reshuffle among its Chinese executives.
Baidu Ventures Joins $27M Round In New Zealand AI Firm 8i
Baidu Ventures, Baidu Inc’s US$200 million early-stage investment unit focused on artificial intelligence, has joined a US$27 million series B funding round in 8i, a New Zealand-based AI start-up, according to a company announcement
Chinese Cloud AI Start-Up CloudMinds Raises $100M
CloudMinds Inc., a Chinese start-up focused on the development of cloud-intelligence-based applications, and backed by SoftBank Group Corp., announced that it raised US$100 million in a series A funding round during a press conference held in Beijing yesterday. Founded in 2015 by Huang Xiaoqing, the former head of research at China Mobile, CloudMinds aims to build artificial intelligent "brains" on the cloud, instead of within humanoid robots. An average human brain weighs less than 1.5 kilograms, while the silicon alone …
China Includes Artificial Intelligence In Government Work Report For First Time
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang mentioned artificial intelligence, the current buzz word in venture and tech circles, for the first time while making an annual speech on March 5 in Beijing, highlighting Beijing’s focus on the next technology frontier and its determination to support the industry’s future growth.
China’s Didi Launches AI Lab In Silicon Valley, Aims To Lead On Intelligent Driving Tech
The global talent war for top artificial intelligence (AI) talent just intensified, as Chinese ride share giant Didi Chuxing officially launched an AI lab in California to attract top engineering talents to advance transformation in the global transportation industry.
Inside Tencent’s AI Lab: How It Created China’s Own AlphaGo In A Year
FineArt, an AI Go-playing program developed by the AI Lab of Chinese Internet giant Tencent, is proving to be a prodigy, winning an annual world-wide AI Go tournament only a year after its creation and highlighting China’s rapid advance as it seeks to strengthen its AI capabilities.
Baidu’s Chief Scientist Andrew Ng Resigns In Search Of New AI Challenge
Andrew Ng (pictured), a vice president and chief scientist at Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc., is leaving the company to seek new challenges in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) beyond the technology world.
Shunwei’s Meng Xing Says Chinese AI Startups Need Niche Products To Survive And Thrive
To say that Meng Xing, V.P. and entrepreneur-in-residence at Chinese venture firm Shunwei Capital, has been busy would be a gross understatement. Over the past ten years, the 31-year-old venture capitalist and entrepreneur has founded two artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups, selling one, an image recognition AI company, to Amazon and the other to a listed Chinese company. In between, he worked as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan Hong Kong and casino giant Caesars Entertainment, on top of getting an …
Matrix Partners Leads Series A Round in Chinese Online Lending Firm Alading Bank
Matrix Partners China has led a series A financing round in Shanghai-based credit assessment and online lending platform Alading Bank, according to a company announcement.
China’s Baidu Acquires US Computer Vision Firm xPerception
Chinese search engine giant Baidu, Inc. has acquired xPerception, a U.S. technology company that provides visual perception software and hardware solutions for a range of applications, including robotics, virtual reality (VR), and devices for people who are visually impaired. The acquisition further strengthens the use of Baidu’s visual perception technology in key projects like augmented reality (AR) and autonomous driving. It also accelerates the development of Baidu’s artificial intelligence-based products. Financial terms were not disclosed. California-based xPerception is a technology …
Tencent’s AI Research Lab Sets Record At Facial Recognition Contest
Tencent YouTu Lab, a machine learning-focused artificial intelligence research lab under Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., has set a record by achieving an 83.29% recognition rate in the MegaFace challenge, an internationally recognized test known for its high level of difficulty. This is the second time YouTu Lab has achieved a world record, following its recent record in the Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW) face database challenge in March 2017. With data training based on two million Western …
China’s Lenovo To Invest $1.2B In AI, Big Data And IoT In Next Four Years
China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. plans to invest US$1.2 billion in the research and development of artificial intelligence, big data, and Internet of Things (IoT) technology in the next four years, said the company’s chairman and CEO Yang Yuanqing during a media interview.
Baidu, Samsung Unit To Jointly Develop AI Solutions For Chinese Car-Makers
China’s Baidu Inc. has agreed to jointly develop new cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) solutions aimed at Chinese automakers with Harman International, Samsung’s wholly-owned subsidiary focused on connected technologies for the automotive, consumer and enterprise markets.
Is There A Bubble In China’s AI Sector? Investors Disagree
The year 2016 has been called the dawn of the artificial intelligence (AI) age. In China alone, there were 202 investment deals worth RMB6.8 billion (US$1 billion) in AI start-ups during the 12 months ending June 30, 2016.
Baidu CEO Robin Li Lays Out Mission To Turn Search Engine Firm Into AI Leader
Robin Li, founder and chief executive officer of Baidu Inc., sent an internal letter to staff yesterday and stressed again the importance of Baidu’s artificial intelligence strategy. He predicted that AI will be the center of the company’s future. Below is a translation of the letter for your enjoyment: Dear Baidu students: Today is the May Fourth, Youth Day. I have one piece of bad news and one piece of good news to tell everyone. The bad news is that, …
Baidu’s Face Recognition Technology Solves Real Life Mystery
Baidu Inc., China’s leading search engine and a champion of artificial intelligence technology, has helped reunite one Chinese family by using its face recognition technology.
Xuebajun, Dangdai Launch Strategic Partnership For AI In Education
Xuebajun, an education mobile app allowing students to upload questions and get answers from both AI robots and online teachers, has signed a strategic partnership with Wuhan city-based education group Dangdai Education to seek opportunities in the artificial intelligence space.
Baidu Acquires US Artificial Intelligence Start-Up KITT.AI
Chinese Internet giant Baidu Inc. has agreed to acquire KITT.AI, a Seattle-based natural language processing start-up founded by Chinese entrepreneurs Yao Xucheng and Chen Guoguo. The pair plan to jointly develop natural language understanding technology as part of Baidu’s intense push into AI.
Sequoia China Takes Broad Approach To Artificial Intelligence Investment
Sequoia Capital China, the venture capital firm founded by renowned investor Neil Shen has stakes in 29 Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups. But while some other investors take a laser focused approach to the sector, Sequoia’s portfolio includes more broadly defined AI firms such as ride hailing giant Didi Chuxing that use AI as a key component of their business, along with pure AI tech research centered players like Mobvoi.
China Money Network AI Evolution Event Series Tackles Impact Of Artificial Intelligence Workforce
China Money Network successfully held an event in Shanghai on September 4 at the naked hub Shanghai Xintiandi with three prominent speakers to discuss the impact of the emerging artificial intelligence workforce.
GSR, Gobi Join $5M Series A Round In Chinese AI Start-up DeepBrain
Chinese venture capital firm GSR Ventures and Gobi Partners have joined a RMB35 million (US$5 million) series A round in DeepBrain, a four-month old business providing AI and blockchain-based SaaS solutions to Internet of Things (IoT) hardware manufacturers and app developers.
Chinese Artificial Intelligence Start-Up Yi+ Raises $15M Series B Round
Beijing-based start-up Yi+, which uses computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide intelligent media and marketing solutions, has obtained US$15 million in a series B funding round, the firm announced.