g-f(2)128 THE BIG PICTURE OF THE DIGITAL AGE, HBR, Is China Emerging as the Global Leader in AI?

VIRAL KNOWLEDGE: The “genioux facts” knowledge news

Extra-condensed knowledge

• From a research perspective, China has become a world leader in AI publications and patents. 
• This trend suggests that China is also poised to become a leader in AI-empowered businesses, such as speech and image recognition applications.
• China’s feat is dramatic. According to earlier research — the China AI Development Report 2018 project, which one of us (Li) helped spearhead — as well as an ongoing study of the economic and social impacts of AI technologies, the country’s progress is stunning.
• Today, the global business and technology environments face a set of political uncertainties. These include the U.S.-China trade war and heightened conflicts over intellectual property rights.
• Regardless of such uncertainties, the coopetition between the U.S. and China in the AI space will continue for many years to come.

Genioux knowledge fact condensed as an image

Condensed knowledge 

• Twenty years ago, there was a huge gulf between China and the United States on AI research. 
• China’s feat is dramatic. According to earlier research — the China AI Development Report 2018 project, which one of us (Li) helped spearhead — as well as an ongoing study of the economic and social impacts of AI technologies, the country’s progress is stunning. 
• As of March 2019, the number of Chinese AI firms has reached 1,189, second only to the U.S., which has more than 2,000 active AI firms. These firms focus more on speech (e.g., speech recognition, speech synthesis) and vision (e.g., image recognition, video recognition) than their overseas counterparts. 
• Impressive as this may be, however, there’s no guarantee it will translate into a robust advantage in AI innovation and global leadership moving ahead. 
• Paradoxically, the conditions that helped China catch up might also pose a challenge to its future development in AI as the country reaches the innovation frontier. 

Category 2: The Big Picture of the Digital Age

[genioux fact produced, deduced or extracted from HBR]

Type of essential knowledge of this “genioux fact”: Essential Deduced and Extracted Knowledge (EDEK).

Type of validity of the "genioux fact". 

• Inherited from sources + Supported by the knowledge of one or more experts + Supported by research.

Authors of the genioux fact

Fernando Machuca

References

Is China Emerging as the Global Leader in AI?, Daitian Li, Tony W. Tong, and Yangao Xiao, February 18, 2021, Harvard Business Review, HBR. 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Daitian Li is an Assistant Professor at the University of Electronic Science & Technology of China. He is an affiliated researcher with the China Institute for Science & Technology Policy at Tsinghua University. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration & Management from Bocconi University. His research interests focus on technological catch-up, industry evolution, and technology & innovation management. His research has been published in journals including Research Policy and Tsinghua Business Review.

Tony W. Tong is a Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship in the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado. He studies how firms structure internal organization and external relationships to leverage business opportunities in technological, geographical, and digital spaces. He has published many articles in journals including Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Organization Science, Research Policy, and Strategic Management Journal; as well as multiple case studies with Harvard Business Publishing.

Yangao Xiao is a Professor of Management at the University of Electronic Science & Technology of China. His research interests focus on intellectual property rights and latecomer strategies. His research has been published in journals including Research Policy and CEIBS Business Review.