Chinese AI startups raised $5B in VC funding last year, outpacing the US

Artificial intelligence (AI) startups in China raised nearly $5 billion in venture capital (VC) funding in 2017, overtaking their US counterparts in yet another part of the AI race, according to a Monday report from ABI Research. Overall investments in AI startups increased 150% globally year-over-year in 2017, growing from $4 billion in 2016 to $10.7 billion last year, the report found. AI startups in the US raised $4.4 billion from 155 investments. Meanwhile, Chinese startups raised $4.9 billion from only 19 investments, indicating a focus on mature AI applications with strong commercial viability and successful use cases, the report noted. SEE: IT leader's guide to the future of artificial intelligence (Tech Pro Research) The Chinese government has also made AI a priority, laying out a major policy plan calling for the nation to become the world's primary AI innovation center by 2030, attracting more investment in AI startups, the report noted.