Companies will be the driver of China's AI implementation

Private enterprises and companies are likely to be the driver in China's push to catch up with the United States in implementing artificial intelligence across a broad swathe of industries, owing to the size of the Chinese consumer market, fast-developing "smart" infrastructure and a growing focus to innovate by organisations of all sizes, technology experts said. Their views on AI as an opportunity to transform traditional industries, including transportation, financial services, retail and media, took centre stage at the opening of this year's Rise technology conference, which concludes on Thursday. China was the world's second-biggest investor in AI enterprises last year, injecting US$2.6 billion into the sector, according to the state-run Chinese think tank Wuzhen Institute. The US topped the list with US$17.9 billion in investments. Li Zhifei, the founder and chief executive of AI start-up Mobvoi, said conditions are ripe for China to take the lead in rolling out self-driving or autonomous vehicles across the country before the US.