World AI Conference: Talents as a major challenge for Chinese tech companies

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Thousands of tech companies flaunted their latest hardware at the World AI Conference in Shanghai. Although breakthroughs have been made in the development of chips and other core technologies, challenges still lie ahead for many Chinese tech companies. CGTN's Wu Lei has more.

Artificial intelligence is being widely applied to areas such as healthcare, manufacturing and finance. At the World AI Conference, the technology behind self-driving vehicles was all the rage among Chinese tech companies.

WU LEI SHANGHAI "There are 5 smart cameras installed on different sides of this car. With the help of this AI chip, outside vehicles, pedestrians and the rest of the environment can be clearly detected and recognized. Chinese tech companies say this is the basis of unmanned vehicles that need major research and investment."

Horizon Robotics is a leading AI chipmaker in China. Mass production has already begun on its latest chip-"Journey 2". The company's CEO Yu Kai says he expects more Chinese tech companies to contribute to research in this area.

YU KAI FOUNDER & CEO, HORIZON ROBOTICS "We are still lacking research on the core theory of chip development. At the same time, I think more Chinese companies should invest in manufacturers of processors and operating systems."

Experts say many Chinese tech companies focus on the application of AI, but not enough on the development of chips and processors. This not only requires years of investment, but also a large number of talents which many companies agree is a major challenge.

XU YIYA SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SHANGHAI XIAOI ROBOT TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. "Now, many universities offer courses on artificial intelligence. We have many talents in areas like machine vision. But for the human-computer dialogue course, where the main subject is natural language processing, there is a big gap in the talent pool."

Xu Yiya says human capital and intellectual property will always be the most important assets for Chinese tech companies as people and creativity play a key role in their expansion to domestic and global markets. WL, CGTN, SH.