The World's Most Valuable AI Firm SenseTime Gathers Speed With 620Million Extra Funding

Chinese facial recognition firm SenseTime has topped up its accounts and retained its position as the world's most valuable artificial intelligence startup with a second funding round in two months, while gaining the firm a valuation of USD4.5 billion. The Series C round raised USD620 million and gathered domestic and foreign institutional investors, such as HOPU Investment Management, Yinhu Investment Management, Tiger Fund, and US asset manager firm Fidelity Investments, state-backed The Paper reported. China's government has vowed to turn AI into a USD150 billion industry by 2030. SenseTime has two domestic rivals, Megvii and Yitu, and each have over billion-dollar valuations, which is more than any American AI firm has reached so far. SenseTime has deployed its technologies in smart cities, mobile phones, internet entertainment, automobiles, finance, retail, and other industries.