Is China in the driver's seat when it comes to AI?

The field of AI is going through a period of rapid progress, with improvements in processor design and advances in machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing. The reports recommended increased expenditure on machine learning research and enhanced collaboration between the U.S. government and tech industry leaders to unlock the potential of AI. But despite these efforts, 91 percent of the 1,268 tech founders, CEOs, investors, and developers surveyed at the international Collision tech conference in New Orleans in May 2017 believed that the U.S. government is "fatally under-prepared" for the impact of AI on the U.S. ecosystem. Research firm CB Insights found that Chinese participation in funding rounds for American startups came close to $10 billion in 2016, while recent figures indicate that Chinese companies have invested in 51 U.S. AI companies, to the tune of $700 million.