Home to One-Third of China's AI Professionals, Shanghai Is Set to Become a Powerhouse in the Sector
Qiu Zhili
DATE:  Sep 05 2017
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Home to One-Third of China's AI Professionals, Shanghai Is Set to Become a Powerhouse in the Sector Home to One-Third of China's AI Professionals, Shanghai Is Set to Become a Powerhouse in the Sector

(Yicai Global) Sept. 5 -- Standing at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Shanghai is seeking to establish itself as an AI heavyweight in China.

Almost 70 percent of the country's AI professionals cluster in Beijing (34.1 percent) and Shanghai (33.7 percent), according to an AI talent database developed by global social networking company, LinkedIn.

Shanghai has all the fundamentals and most important elements required for successful AI development -- a wealth of application scenarios and data resources, pioneering theoretical research and ample supplies of world-class human resources (HR) -- said Li Feifei, chief scientist at Google Cloud.

The city may use its abundant HR supply to attract major tech firms to build local research facilities as a means of concentrating relevant industry resources.

Tencent Holdings Ltd. [HK:0700] has set up its YouTu Lab in Shanghai's Caohejing Industrial Park. The lab is affiliated with Tencent's social network group. It is one of the company's three AI research and development teams, and specializes in machine learning, pattern recognition and cognitive technology development.

Many members of the YouTu team are PhD and Master's graduates from Shanghai Jiaotong University, and the lab's location in Shanghai makes it easier to recruit more qualified professionals, noted Wang Ying, its senior marketing manager. Shanghai is also surrounded by many economically-developed cities, and so marketing new technologies is relatively easy in the region. The lab has developed an AI-enabled Eye-in-the-Sky system, which the police department in neighboring Suzhou city has already deployed.

Shanghai is also trying to lure innovative tech startups such as SenseTime Group Ltd. to further expand the local AI industry chain.

The unicorn firm does not use any of the open-source platforms Google or Facebook offer, and is committed to developing its own technologies instead, though its independent research and development operations have cost it a lot. "Every 'button training' session in machine learning costs 500,000 yuan, and we have 120 people pressing buttons all the time. It is prohibitively expensive, but developing basic-level infrastructure will pay off as it'll bring us core competitiveness," said the firm's co-founder and chief executive, Xu Li.

Shanghai is a national economic center, and generates massive amounts of economic, financial, medical, educational and governmental data every day. The local Big Data trading center processes 30 million data transactions each day, or about 50 percent of the national total.

"All government data must be disclosed to the public in a systematic fashion," stressed Chen Mingbo, head of the Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Commission, "As regards data of a confidential nature, standards will be formulated, and departments will draw up information-sharing plans. Shanghai needs to be more open, if it wants to be more attractive than Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou."

The local government will issue a set of opinions to boost development of the AI industry in October. AI technology will apply in the financial, security, e-government and even entertainment and culture businesses.

Follow Yicai Global on
Keywords:   AI,Industry Policy,Shanghai