In China, there is a call for a national effort to achieve technological independence in line with the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. With the annual Lianghui (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and National People’s Congress) approaching, discussions on fostering the AI industry are expected to intensify amidst concerns that AI technology development could fall behind due to the U.S.’s advanced semiconductor export controls.
According to the state-run Global Times, Zhang Wenchuan, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a researcher at the Institute of Computing Technology in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, argued that the innovation and supply of large-scale model training intelligent computing chips in China are lagging behind the U.S. He emphasized that forming a national team to solve the bottleneck in China’s supercomputing is “very important for China to achieve AI development independently.”
Zhang pointed out that Chinese AI chip manufacturers are limited in semiconductor production, resulting in limited ability to produce cutting-edge chips. He proposed establishing a special supercomputing research project, including a chip project, by pooling national resources to solve this problem.
Zhang argued that if the accumulated talent and technical advantages in related fields are fully utilized, a breakthrough can be achieved quickly, and the gap between China and the U.S. in large-scale model training can also be reduced. He warned that “sovereign AI capabilities, which can influence the technological competitiveness of the entire nation, including military, political, economic, and other aspects, could put China at risk of sanctions and suppression if it falls behind.” According to Nvidia, sovereign AI refers to a country’s ability to produce AI using its infrastructure, data, human resources, and business network.
Meanwhile, China introduced the concept of “AI+ action” for the first time in its work report to the National People’s Congress this year. In the “Digital Economy Innovation Development” section of the report, it stated, “We will actively promote the digitalization of industry and the industrialization of digital and stimulate the deep integration of digital technology and the real economy” and “We will deepen the research and application of big data, AI, etc. and carry out ‘AI+ action.'” Experts predict that China, recognizing the strategic importance of AI technology, will strengthen its comprehensive semiconductor support system at the national level to counter the pressure from the U.S.
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