An elite group of companies known as the "Six Tigers"--Stepfun, Zhipu, Minimax, Moonshot, 01.AI, and Baichuan--are generally considered to be at the forefront of China's AI sector. But alongside them, research-focused firms like DeepSeek and ModelBest continue to grow in influence. Some, such as Minimax and Moonshot, are giving up on costly foundational model training to hone in on building consumer-facing applications on top of others' models. Others, like Stepfun and Infinigence AI, are doubling down on research, driven in part by US semiconductor restrictions. We have identified these four Chinese AI companies as the ones to watch.

Late last month, the US Treasury Department finalized new restrictions limiting what kinds of Chinese tech startups US venture capital firms can invest in for national security reasons. When they go into effect in January, the long-awaited measures will stop American VCs and other investors from pouring money into cutting-edge Chinese AI models. After president-elect Trump takes office a few weeks later, his administration may expand the rules and make them even tougher. While the US still leads the world in advanced AI development, the American government has grown increasingly concerned about China catching up soon. The new outbound investment restrictions are designed to work alongside other measures, such as export controls on advanced computer chips and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), to collectively hamper--or at least slow down--the progress of Chinese AI companies.

Megvii, a Chinese AI startup that supplies facial recognition software for the Chinese government's surveillance program, is expanding its technology beyond humans to recognize different faces of pets. As reported by Abacus News, Megvii's new program is trained to recognize dogs by their nose prints -- much like how humans have unique fingerprints. Using the Megvii app, the company says it can register your dog simply by scanning the snout through your phone's camera. Just like how a phone registers your fingerprint for biometric unlocks, the app asks you to take photos of your dog's nose from multiple angles. Megvii says it has an accuracy rate of 95 percent and has reunited 15,000 pets with their owners through the app.

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.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a strategic imperative with various nations announcing centralized plans and initiatives to remain globally competitive. Automation is on the rise due to recent breakthroughs in deep learning, the availability of big data, decentralized computing via the cloud, and improved AI algorithms. "For governments, there is an urgent need to support both firms and citizens to ensure that they benefit from the AI-powered digital economy. This means preparing workers for rapidly changing job requirements, facilitating AI investment and adoption, and solving for broad-based, productivity-driven economic growth." Globally the most active AI hubs are in Silicon Valley, New York, Beijing, Boston, London, and Shenzhen [1].

Mobvoi Inc., the Chinese artificial intelligence startup backed by Google, is getting a $180 million investment from Volkswagen AG to join a race to build the technology into cars. The startup, founded in 2012 by a group of former Googlers, will develop products for Volkswagen models and possibly other brands based on its voice-recognition and natural language processing technology. That includes a smart rear view mirror that provides navigation, messaging and information through voice input, the company said in a statement. Chinese tech giants are pushing into technologies that have the potential to transform the auto industry. Last month, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. led an investment in WayRay, which makes holographic displays for cars.