AgiBot is using AI-powered robots to do new manufacturing tasks. Smarter machines may transform physical labor in China. AgiBot, a humanoid robotics company based in Shanghai, has engineered a way for two-armed robots to learn manufacturing tasks through human training and real-world practice on a factory production line. The company says its system, which combines teleoperation and reinforcement learning, is being tested on a production line belonging to Longcheer Technology, a Chinese company that manufactures smartphones, VR headsets, and other electronic gadgets. AgiBot's project shows how more advanced AI is starting to change the abilities of industrial machines--an innovation that may creep into new areas of manufacturing in China and elsewhere.

The DeepSeek AI chatbot, released by a Chinese startup, has temporarily dethroned OpenAI's ChatGPT from the top spot on Apple's US App Store. Also, the DeepSeek model was efficiently trained using less powerful AI chips, making it a benchmark of innovative engineering. I've tested many new generative AI tools over the past couple of years, so I was curious to see how DeepSeek compares to the ChatGPT app already on my smartphone. After a few hours of using it, my initial impressions are that DeepSeek's R1 model will be a major disruptor for US-based AI companies, but it still suffers from the weaknesses common to other generative AI tools, like rampant hallucinations, invasive moderation, and questionably scraped material. Users interested in trying out DeepSeek can access the R1 model through the Chinese startup's smartphone apps (Android, Apple), as well as on the company's desktop website.

TuSimple Holdings Inc., a U.S.-based self-driving trucking company, faces federal investigations into whether it improperly financed and transferred technology to a Chinese startup, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The people said the concurrent probes by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Securities and Exchange Commission and Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., known as Cfius, are examining TuSimple's relationship with Hydron Inc., a startup that says it is developing autonomous hydrogen-powered trucks and is led by one of TuSimple's co-founders. Investigators at the FBI and SEC are looking at whether TuSimple and its executives--principally Chief Executive Xiaodi Hou--breached fiduciary duties and securities laws by failing to properly disclose the relationship, the people familiar with the matter said. They are also probing whether TuSimple shared with Hydron intellectual property developed in the U.S. and whether that action defrauded TuSimple investors by sending valuable technology to an overseas adversary, the people said. A personal, guided tour to the best scoops and stories every day in The Wall Street Journal.

In China, where labor shortages and soaring labor costs are increasingly serious problems, robots are replacing redundant, low value-added and sometimes dangerous human work. Hotels are no exception to this trend. As robot technology continues to improve, the service robots in hotels are attracting attention from venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. Established in 2019, Shanghai Jingwu Intelligent Technology makes robots, primarily for hotels. The startup's management and research and development team was once engaged in the robotics business of a listed company and has 17 years of experience in the field.

Shukun Technology, a startup founded two years ago in Beijing that uses artificial intelligence to diagnose heart disease, is developing a technology that could help tackle one of China's most urgent medical problems: a shortage of doctors to treat a rapidly growing population of older, sicker people. Shukun uses software, a database of millions of images of healthy and diseased hearts and machine learning algorithms to make heart CT scans more accurate. The company hopes its product will help doctors diagnose a heart patient's condition and plan surgery faster than they can now. The company has raised $50 million from venture capitalists in mainland China and Hong Kong, including Morningside Venture Capital, Huagai Capital and China Creation Ventures.

Chinese startups are not shying away from adopting new technologies like facial recognition, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, and there has never been a more exciting time for the country's AI startup ecosystem. A recent research by New York-based market advisory firm ABI Research has found that Chinese AI startups raised $5 billion in venture capital funding in 2017 and overtook their US counterparts. The study, which was released on August 27, shows that investors are confident with the technologies developed by Chinese startups, their business strategies, and market potential. The overall investment value for AI startups increased year on year by a staggering 150 per cent globally in 2017, growing from $4 billion in 2016 to $10.7 billion in 2017, the research says. Contrary to their US counterparts who raised $4.4 billion of investment from 155 investments, Chinese startups raised $4.9 billion from 19 investments, indicating a sharp focus by the investors on mature AI applications with strong commercial viability and successful use cases.

Chinese AI startups raised $5 billion in venture capital funding during 2017 -- a half-billion more than their U.S. counterparts -- indicating investor confidence in the technologies, business strategies, and market potential of Chinese startups, according to research by market advisory firm ABI Research. In global terms, investment values for AI startups increased 150 percent -- from $4 billion to $10.7 billion -- between 2016 and 2017. U.S. startups raised $4.4 billion from 155 investments, while Chinese startups netted $4.9 billion from 19 investments. "The bullish sentiment shared among Chinese investors is a clear sign that China is going all-in in artificial intelligence," said Lian Jye Su, a principal analyst at ABI. "The government of China is setting clear policy guidelines for the future development of AI, and startups are responding with cutting edge AI technologies across many industries." ABI found that AI startups in Europe have diversified interests across different industries and verticals, mainly for use cases such as cybersecurity, digital ID, public safety, healthcare, and IoT.

Visitors enjoy an artificial intelligence robot's performance during the 2018 Exposition on China's Indigenous Brands at Shanghai Exhibition Center on May 10, 2018 in Shanghai. China, thanks to its 1.37 billion residents, leads the world on a number of counts. The smartphone user population totaled 663 million last year, more than anywhere else, and its internet penetration stood at 751 million. Now China ranks first in the world in the number of patent applications from two heavily watched, fast-growing areas of high tech: cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, claims American startup ecosystem research organization Startup Genome in a 2018 report. Chalk that up to active government support, domestic demand for new technology and, per one study, a more relaxed patent regime.

The artificial intelligence industry just recorded its largest funding round in history. SenseTime, a Chinese startup that specializes in facial recognition, announced Monday that it has raised $600 million in Series C funding--making it the most highly valued artificial intelligence startup in the world. The company reportedly has a valuation higher than $4 billion, according to Bloomberg. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group led the round. SenseTime provides facial-recognition technology used in various fields from security to fintech.

The artificial intelligence industry just recorded its largest funding round in history. SenseTime, a Chinese startup that specializes in facial recognition, announced Monday that it has raised $600 million in Series C funding--making it the most highly valued artificial intelligence startup in the world. The company reportedly has a valuation higher than $4 billion, according to Bloomberg. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group led the round. SenseTime provides facial-recognition technology used in various fields from security to fintech.