Chinese AI startup SenseTime valued at £3.2 bn

Creepy plans for creepy state-wide surveillance in China have moved a step closer, thanks to one of the country's leading tech firms. SenseTime, which works in partnership with Honda on automated vehicle research, has developed facial recognition CCTV technology already in use across China. The firm has tripled its worth in less than a year after a funding round, led by Alibaba, valued it at about $4.5 billion (£3.2 bn), people with knowledge of the matter said. SenseTime raised a record $600 million (£420 m) in the latest funding round, hot on the heels of a government push to make China an international leader in AI by 2025. Creepy plans for creepy state-wide surveillance in China have moved a step closer, thanks to one of the country's leading tech firms.