China's AI startups already raised $420 million in April · TechNode

Chinese AI startups have raised at least $420 million this month, defying a steep drop in fundraising in China's tech sector amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Why it matters: China's AI firms have grown off the back the government's drive to become a leader in the technology by 2020 but haven't been immune to the outbreak of the flu-like virus. Details: Speech recognition firm AISpeech, AI chipmaker Intellifusion, and machine learning firm 4Paradigm have collectively raised $429 million since the beginning of April. Context: Despite signs of a recovery in investor sentiment, the Covid-19 outbreak will likely have a significant impact on China'a AI firms, and the tech sector as a whole. Christopher Udemans is a Shanghai-based technology reporter.