(Yicai Global) April 14 -- Hong Kong has allocated over HKD700 million (USD89.2 million) in its 2023 budget to speed up digital economic development in the special administrative region, the region’s chief executive said yesterday.

The Hong Kong government will promote the development of Hong Kong’s virtual asset industry, and the third-generation internet represented by Web 3.0 has great development potential, John Lee said in his opening speech at the Digital Economy Summit 2023 yesterday.

The Digital Economy Development Committee, set up by the Hong Kong government last year, is carrying out in-depth studies on subjects such as digital infrastructure construction, cross-border data flows, digital transformation of enterprises as well as human resources, Sun Dong, the Secretary for the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, told Yicai Global at the summit.

“We believe that the digital economy will account for an increasing share of gross domestic product in the future and can be well integrated with the real economy. For example, artificial intelligence and the internet of things applications which can be quickly applied to the real economy,” Sun said.

The Hong Kong government has no plans to use ChatGPT due to potential risks, Sun said.

The Hong Kong government holds an open attitude toward the application of AI technologies and is keeping an eye on the latest technological developments, he added. “The government is cooperating with industry players to leverage Hong Kong’s advantages and make some unique achievements in terms of large models of generative AI, open source and non-profit fields.”

A feasibility study on building an AI supercomputing center in Hong Kong is being conducted, said Acting Government Chief Information Officer Tony Wong. Wong hopes the report will recommend that Hong Kong set up a supercomputing center for local universities, research institutions, government departments, and industrial players to conduct big AI model research and data analysis together, he said.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor