Pudong speeds AI development
More than 50 world-class artificial intelligence firms will appear in the Pudong New Area in the near future, according to a government official, creating an AI industry with an output of over 30 billion yuan (US$4.41 billion).
As a national AI innovation demonstration area, Pudong’s development models and experience will be copied and promoted nationwide, the official said on Wednesday. Those firms cover AI chips, connected cars, robots and smart devices, mainly in industrial parks in Zhangjiang, Jinqiao and Lingang areas.
In Zhangjiang’s new AI Harbor region, more than a dozen firms have set up facilities, including overseas industry giants, leading dot-com firms, research institutes and startups. They include IBM, Microsoft, Alibaba, Tongji University and Cloudwork, an AI startup which has raised millions of dollars in several rounds of fundraising.
Zhangjiang will become an AI center in Shanghai covering AI pioneers and related facilities, including a 100,000-square-meter AI experience center hall and various AI applications, said Han Lu, deputy chief economist of Zhangjiang Group.
During a media tour on Wednesday, an AI-driven parking system, automatic trash sorting device with 5G and a self-driving patrol vehicle were demonstrated at the AI Harbor
Meanwhile, a center targeting overseas talent has been set up in Zhangjiang. It will help overseas employees in areas such as immigration and emigration, working visas, medical care and schools, Han added.
Microsoft, which opened an AI and the Internet of Things center at the AI Harbor, has attracted over 30 firms to attend an accelerator program, offering them resources such as cloud and data analysis.
In the long term, more than 100 AI applications will debut in Pudong, the official said. The local government will offer support to related firms that includes talent exchanges, data opening and turning research results into revenue.
A self-driving vehicle on patrol at the AI Harbor in Zhangjiang of the Pudong New Area.
