The AI algorithm, the name of which can be translated as either Dragon Eye or Dragonfly Eye, was developed by Shanghai-based tech firm Yitu. It works off of China's national database, which consists of all 1.3 billion residents of the Asian nation as well as 500 million more people who have entered the country at some point. Dragon Eye interfaces with the database to detect the faces of individuals. Yitu chief executive and co-founder Zhu Long told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that the purpose of the algorithm is to fight crime and make the world a safer place. "Let's say that we live in Shanghai, a city of 24 million people. It's challenging for the government to police such a large population. And it would be impossible without technology. Even when we have many cameras installed, it's a hard task. You can't watch all the videos, and doing a search is very time-consuming and requires too many resources to get meaningful results from such a huge amount of data," Long said.

A Shanghai company has claimed to have developed an AI that can recognize a face among at least two billion people in a matter of seconds. Yitu's AI algorithm Dragon Eye not only recognizes faces but with a network of connected cameras can plot the movement of their owners. "Our machines can very easily recognize you among at least two billion people in a matter of seconds," says chief executive and Yitu co-founder Zhu Long, "which would have been unbelievable just three years ago." As of now, the Dragon Eye platform has around 1.8 billion photographs to work with: those logged in China's national database and those who have ever entered through its borders. Talking to the South China Morning Post, Zhu said the objective of the algorithm is to make the world a much safer place by curbing crime.