Former Head of Google China Foresees an AI Crisis--and Proposes a Solution

IEEE Spectrum: Why do you believe that China will soon match or even overtake the United States in developing and deploying AI? Kai-Fu Lee: The first and foremost reason is that we've transitioned out of an era of discovery--when the person who makes the discovery has a huge edge--and into an era of implementation. The algorithms for AI are pretty well known to many practitioners. What matters now is speed, execution, capital, and access to a large amount of data. In each of these areas, China has an edge. That's why I began the book by talking about China's entrepreneurism.