Washington has imposed export restrictions on advanced technology to China, including the most high-end AI chips made by companies such as Nvidia and chipmaking equipment, citing concerns that the technology could enhance China’s military capabilities.
Despite these restrictions, China has continued making AI breakthroughs that have drawn close scrutiny from US officials.
China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told a roundtable of representatives from over 30 countries, including Russia, South Africa, Qatar, South Korea and Germany, that China wanted the organisation to promote pragmatic cooperation in AI and was considering putting its headquarters in Shanghai.
The foreign ministry released online an action plan for global AI governance, inviting governments, international organisations, enterprises and research institutions to work together and promote international exchanges, including through a cross-border open-source community.
The government-sponsored AI conference typically attracts major industry players, government officials, researchers and investors.
Saturday’s speakers included Anne Bouverot, the French president’s special envoy for AI, computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, known as “the Godfather of AI”, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has in past years regularly appeared at the opening ceremony in person or by video, did not speak this year.
Besides forums, the conference features exhibitions where companies demonstrate their latest innovations.
This year, more than 800 companies are participating, showcasing more than 3,000 high-tech products, 40 large language models, 50 AI-powered devices and 60 intelligent robots, according to organisers.
The exhibition features predominantly Chinese companies, including tech giants Huawei and Alibaba and startups such as humanoid robot maker Unitree. Western participants include Tesla, Alphabet and Amazon.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-li-qiang-global-ai-cooperation-body-5259716
