Google is building its next AI research center in China

Google announced today that its first artificial intelligence research center in Asia will be set up in China, underlining the country's capacity to dominate in the fast-growing field. The company noted that the new center in Beijing will host researchers who will focus on basic AI, and "support the AI research community by funding and sponsoring AI conferences and workshops, and working closely with the vibrant Chinese AI research community." The move makes a lot of sense: research firm IDC predicts that global spending on AI will cross $46 billion by 2020, and China is going all in. In July, its State Council outlined its goals to build a domestic artificial intelligence industry worth nearly $150 billion in the next few years, and become the world leader in this domain by 2030. The Chinese city of Tianjin is also slated to create a $5 billion fund to bolster AI development.