China racing for AI military edge over U.S. -report

WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A research arm of the U.S. intelligence community just wrapped up a competition to see who could develop the best facial recognition technology. The challenge: identify as many passengers as possible walking on an aircraft boarding ramp. Of all the entries, it was a Chinese start-up company called Yitu Tech that walked away with the $25,000 prize this month, the highest of three cash awards. The competition was one of many examples cited in a report by a U.S.-based think tank about how China's military might leverage its country's rapid advances in artificial intelligence to modernize its armed forces and, potentially, seek advantages against the United States. "China is no longer in a position of technological inferiority relative to the United States but rather has become a true peer (competitor) that may have the capability to overtake the United States in AI," said the report, written by Elsa Kania at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and due to be released on Tuesday.