Hosting the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai fit in well with China's ambition to become the leading AI innovation center by 2030. Already, it has overtaken the U.S. in AI medical innovations which, according to an article published in euronews.com According to the World Economic Forum's annual Sustainable Development Impact Summit held virtually in September 2020, AI systems are useful in tackling the greatest challenges facing humanity, including climate change, COVID-19 and world hunger. In the next few decades, AI will be an everyday reality for much of the world's population, encompassing health, education and transport to consumption, entertainment and even spiritualism. AI should be about how well technology can make life easier and more convenient for the 7.7 billion people currently living on the globe and for future generations, a pertinent issue that arose on July 11, World Population Day.

Hosted at Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (Dtec), DSOA's wholly owned tech incubation centre, Intel Innovation Centre is set to become a hub for future technological development in the region that will feature Artificial Intelligence, AI, Blockchain, Video analytics and Autonomous Driving. D. Juma Al Matrooshi, Deputy CEO of DSOA, officially inaugurated the Innovation Centre along with Taha Khalifa, Client Computing Sales Director and EMEA Territory GCC Country lead at Intel Corporation, in the presence of Muammar Al Katheeri, Executive Vice President of Engineering and Smart City at DSOA, Steven Long, Vice President Sales and Marketing Group & GM of CCG Sales at Intel, and senior officials from the two entities as well as Intel's business partners. Al Katheeri said, "Four years ago, we launched with Intel the region's first Internet of Things (IoT) ignition lab that has already added significant value to tech start-ups and entrepreneurs in the UAE. Today we celebrate our partnership with Intel as we step forward together into a new milestone through the inauguration of the Intel Innovation Center that has found an ideal home at DSO. With its dynamic mix of business partners and boasting an environment that fosters the entrepreneurial spirit, DSO continues to push the boundaries of technological innovation."

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a new arena for engagement and competition between the United States and China. In July, China's State Council published the New Generation AI Development Plan (新一代人工智能发展规划) which declared, "AI has become a new focal point of international competition. AI is a strategic technology that will lead the future," articulating China's ambition to "lead the world" and become the "premier AI innovation center" by 2030 (State Council, July 20). Perhaps recognizing that a new era has begun, the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) published in mid-December announced, "To maintain our competitive advantage, the United States will prioritize emerging technologies critical to economic growth and security" (National Security Strategy, December 18). In particular, the NSS highlights that AI is advancing especially rapidly and could present growing risks to U.S. national security going forward, while characterizing China as a "strategic competitor" that unfairly seeks to "unfairly tap into [U.S.] innovation" through the theft of intellectual property and "cyber-enabled economic warfare." Concurrently, the U.S. and China are pursuing military applications of AI, recognizing its potential to transform the character of future conflict (State Council, July 20; Battlefield Singularity, November 28).

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies have turned the IT industry on its head, offering enterprises the ability to transform their approach to business strategy and customer insights, and research institutions to pursue humanity's biggest challenges. Once considered an abstract technology that was primarily championed by hyperscale companies (like Google, Microsoft, Baidu etc), it is encouraging to now see startups and larger enterprises alike across a variety of industries explore unique AI applications to solve business problems and scientific challenges. From assisting in healthcare diagnoses, to predicting when things like a jet engine is in need of maintenance, and assisting in crime prevention, the potential for innovation with AI is nearly endless. It's even touching the average consumer's daily life, as well: Facebook's suggested photo tagging feature, for example, uses AI to recognize who's who in your pictures. Of course, AI does have its pain points and a key challenge for businesses today is the ability to differentiate between what's hype and what's reality.

On July 20, China's State Council issued the "Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" (新一代人工智能发展规划), which articulates an ambitious agenda for China to lead the world in AI. China intends to pursue a "first-mover advantage" to become the "premier global AI innovation center" by 2030. Through this new strategic framework, China will advance a "three in one" agenda in AI: tackling key problems in research and development, pursuing a range of products and applications, and cultivating an AI industry. The Chinese leadership thus seeks to seize a "major strategic opportunity" to advance its development of AI, potentially surpassing the United States in the process. This new plan, which will be implemented by a new AI Plan Promotion Office within the Ministry of Science and Technology, outlines China's objectives for advances in AI in three stages. First, by 2020, China's overall progress in technology and applications of AI should keep pace with the world's advanced level, while its AI industry becomes an important economic growth point.