Companies developing AI in China need to comply with specific laws on intellectual property rights, personal information protection, recommendation algorithms and synthetic content, also called deep fakes. In April, regulators also released a draft set of rules on generative AI, the technology behind image generator Stable Diffusion and chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard.

But China could catch up, according to analysts, as AI solutions take years to be perfected. Chinese internet companies "are arguably more advanced than US internet companies, depending on how you're measuring advancement," Kendra Schaefer, head of tech policy research at Trivium China tells the BBC.

Stanford publishes its AI Index Report that focuses on the developments of the complex artificial intelligence landscape since 2017. The latest report -- 2021 -- shed some light on the impact of COVID-19 in AI research, countries leading the race in research, and more. In a total of 7 chapters, the Stanford AI Index Report also covers aspects like AI education, research and development, diversity in AI, and AI policy. One of the most surprising revelations, for many, is that China overtakes the US in terms of journal citation, pinpointing the advancement in their research. This comes after China surpassed the US in the terms of the number of artificial intelligence research publications in 2017 after briefly overtaking in 2004.

China not only has the world's largest population and looks set to become the largest economy -- it also wants to lead the world when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI). In 2017, the Communist Party of China set 2030 as the deadline for this ambitious AI goal, and, to get there, it laid out a bevy of milestones to reach by 2020. These include making significant contributions to fundamental research, being a favoured destination for the world's brightest talents and having an AI industry that rivals global leaders in the field. As this first deadline approaches, researchers note impressive leaps in the quality of China's AI research. They also predict a shift in the nation's ability to retain homegrown talent.

In 2017, investments in startups riding the wave of AI across the world leapt up by 141% in a year, amounting to 15.2 billion dollars. Some 1,100 new startups came into existence. The fourth industrial revolution is very much underway and has sent shockwaves through all sectors, from agriculture to cybersecurity as well as business and even healthcare. Some observers even believe that the economic growth of a country soon be assessed, not by its capital but by its level of maturity in terms of AI. These predictions will no doubt delight some and terrify others.