At the World Conference on Artificial Intelligence (WAIC) in Shanghai, China, amid possible restrictions on AI chip exports from the United States, Chinese companies are sharing their latest advances in the artificial intelligence (AI) field, particularly the capacity and size of AI chips. A scaled language model was presented.
A string of new large-scale language models and AI chip announcements by a number of companies on Friday show China’s unflinching efforts to develop AI despite U.S. restraints, experts said. .
At Friday’s WAIC, Chinese AI chip company Kunlunxin showcased its AI chips and pledged to work with the industry to make computing more intelligent and strengthen China’s AI sector.
The company’s vice president, Wang Yong, emphasized the Kunlun chip’s role in boosting the computational power of large-scale language models at a forum on Friday.
Kunlunxin has already achieved mass production of two generations of high-performance AI chips. The company’s tens of thousands of AI chips have been manufactured and deployed in various AI scenarios, such as smart finance, smart industry, and other fields.
China’s AI industry is experiencing vigorous activity, with companies such as Alibaba Cloud and SenseTime also unveiling their latest AI models and services at WAIC.
Alibaba Cloud on Friday introduced its model-centric AI development paradigm MaaS and its comprehensive large-scale model service layout. SenseTime announced Friday that it will perform a comprehensive upgrade of its underlying model system, SenseNova, and introduce a series of large-scale model product updates under this system.
Another Chinese tech giant, Huawei, on Friday unveiled a new AI model, called Pangu 3.0, aimed at reshaping various industries.
In addition, the National Bureau of Standardization officially announced the development of national standards for testing large-scale models.
This shows China’s still determination to boost its AI industry despite potential restrictions on AI chip shipments from the United States, demonstrating its unwavering commitment to AI development, experts said. .
The WSJ reported that the U.S. Commerce Department could soon move to stop shipments of unlicensed chips made by Nvidia and other chip makers to customers in China and other countries.
However, based on what the WAIC has revealed, the potential restrictions will not limit Chinese companies from continuing their efforts to innovate and advance AI. On the contrary, the pace of AI development in China will only accelerate, Chinese telecom industry analyst Xiang Ligang told the Global Times on Friday.
Faced with a potential supply shortage and rising demand for computing power in large models, many Chinese AI companies want to fill the gap left by the United States in the chip supply market.
A salesperson at the AI startup told Global Times at WAIC that the company’s AI chips outperformed Nvidia’s high-end chips in certain areas. “It’s a gradual process. Overall he’s still a long way off from Nvidia, but we’re still fully committed to our way forward,” he said.
Zhang Yaqin, director of the AI Industry Research Institute of Tsinghua University, said at WAIC that China’s AI talent and data capabilities are strong enough.
“In the past five years, many innovative and original algorithms have been perfected by Chinese scientists,” Zhang said.
Despite concerns about “decoupling”, this year’s WAIC maintains its global appeal. His excitement over China’s AI industry attracted diverse participants from around the world, suggesting that the notion exaggerated by some foreign media that geopolitical tensions were casting a shadow over the event was false. exposed.
According to WAIC organizers, more than 400 companies will participate this year, with a total exhibition area of 50,000 square meters at the main venue. These numbers are the highest since the event started in 2018.
Some U.S. tech companies didn’t attend the event in person due to geopolitical concerns, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in a market too big for them to abandon, Shang said.
“This is especially true for companies like Nvidia. If China forms an AI ecosystem to replace AI, we will lose the Chinese market and even some overseas markets,” Xiang said. .
China’s AI industry is currently in a development boom, with the core industry reaching 500 billion yuan ($69.4 billion) and the number of AI enterprises exceeding 4,300, said vice minister of industry and information technology Xu Xiaolan to open WAIC. said in the formula.
China is accelerating the construction of AI-related infrastructure, ranking second in the world in terms of total computing power and possessing more than 2.8 million 5G stations, Xu added. In addition, more than 2,500 digital and intelligent workshops and factories were established throughout the country, resulting in a 20.7 percent reduction in research and development cycles and a 34.8 percent increase in production efficiency.
Companies such as Tesla have also shown strong enthusiasm for China’s AI industry. Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised the development of China’s AI industry in his speech at the WAIC opening ceremony.
Musk said China will have strong AI capabilities in the future because of its many intelligent people.
