Government capital combined with access to plentiful public data has helped turn Chinese AI firms into powerhouses in certain niches
The system, whose name means “enlightenment” and which can emulate lowlier types of speech, derives its power from a neural network with 1.75trn variables and other inputs.-3, a similar model built a year earlier by a team of researchers in San Francisco and deemed impressive at the time, considered just 175bn parameters. As such Wu Dao represents a leap in this type of machine learning, which tries to emulate the workings of the human brain.
Look beyond the headlines or Wu Dao’s elegant verses, however, and things look more complicated. Yes, China has made progress on, and even the occasional big splash like Wu Dao. But it almost certainly still lags behind America in terms of both investment and cutting-edge innovation. In 2020, three years into the master plan, privately held Chinesefirms received less than half as much investment as their American counterparts.
Elements of the Communist Party’s approach are characteristically prescriptive. The Ministry of Science and Technology has instructed China’s tech giants with existing ventures in certain subdisciplines of—Tencent in medical image recognition, Baidu in autonomous driving—to double down on these. That said, the plan is less hands-on than some of the country’s other development projects, observes Jay Huang of Bernstein, an investment firm.
Even more problematic for the party, its master plan ignored the cutting-edge semiconductors that power. Since its publication Chinese companies have found it ever more difficult to get their hands on advanced computer chips. That is because virtually all such microprocessors are either American or made with American equipment. As such, they are subject to restrictions on exports to China put in place by Donald Trump and extended by his successor as president, Joe Biden.
These challenges will continue to bedevil all of China’s high-tech industries for years to come. It could leave itsbusinesses stuck in a rut—successfully rolling out relatively unsophisticated products while trailing Europe and America in paradigm-shifting developments of greater financial and strategic value. Consider Wu Dao 2.0. Although it was a huge improvement on-3, it did just that—improve an existing technology rather than break new ground.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
We ran Trump\u2019s old tweets through an AI generator - here\u2019s what he\u2019d be posting todayFormer President Donald Trump is banned from the major social media platforms for inciting violence that led to the insurrection.And while he still releases odd statements on his official website, he doesn’t get the same traction that he once did with his 88m followers on Twitter.But what would his ...
Read more »
Queen Elizabeth's jubilee: Chef recalls coronation chicken originsAngela Wood recalls helping create the dish for the Queen's coronation in 1953.
Read more »
Two-thirds of anti-vax propaganda online created by just 12 influencers, research findsJokes on Instagram and Tik Tok continue to affect young people, experts say - while warning over the dangers of labelling as anti-vaxxers those who are vaccine hesitant.
Read more »
Inside the soothing city home created for a first-time Londoner ready for a changeArtist and writer Wendy Osgerby moved from Oxfordshire to London and renovated a Brockley mews into a soothing space to create
Read more »
Glasgow becomes Gotham for Batgirl as Scottish film industry boomsCulture minister says country is at a ‘critical mass of screen production’ that will keep jobs in Scotland
Read more »
We ran Trump\u2019s old tweets through an AI generator - here\u2019s what he\u2019d be posting todayFormer President Donald Trump is banned from the major social media platforms for inciting violence that led to the insurrection.And while he still releases odd statements on his official website, he doesn’t get the same traction that he once did with his 88m followers on Twitter.But what would his ...
Read more »