Can an ancient board game give Google the keys to the Middle Kingdom?

If it was just about man versus machine in the ancient Chinese game of Go, then Google has come out on top. The reigning world champion, 19-year-old prodigy Ke Jie proved no match for the tech giant's artificial intelligence AlphaGo, losing the game of strategy in the picturesque water town of Wuzhen. The contest is seen as an attempt for the Californian company to make a soft entry back into the Chinese market, seven years after they withdrew amid censorship and hacking concerns. The best of three match-up against Ke drew comparisons to IBM DeepBlue's chess games against the Russian master Gary Kasparov in the 1990s. "I have a huge amount of respect for Ke Jie taking on AlphaGo, and as a human he has to take on not just the game itself but also the psychological pressure of being in this intense situation", AlphaGo lead developer David Silver said. Developers said the AI had significantly improved since a similar series of games with a South Korean champion in early 2016.