Shanghai a magnet for AI talent

Shanghai is attracting an increasing number of talented professionals because of an ecosystem that supports the development of AI, the ongoing World Artificial Intelligence Conference heard on Thursday. 

During the event’s opening session, Tom Mitchell, dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, who is known as the “father of deep learning,” said AI was growing rapidly in the education, transport and health care sectors. 

Mitchell joined Squirrel AI Learning as its chief scientist in 2018. He decided to join the Shanghai startup, which has more than two million online learners, after seeing “great potential” in AI education in China, he said during a group interview.

A professional AI Intellectual Property Rights Trade Center made its debut in the Pudong New Area during the WAIC event. The center has been set up to help boost AI innovation and applications.

Many young AI scientists have come to Shanghai to seek entrepreneurship opportunities because of its improved business environment, speakers told the AI-Young Scientists High-Level Conference, a sub-forum of the WAIC.

The AI Young Scientists Alliance, or AIYS, launched a ceremony to welcome 15 new scientists to the alliance. The scientists, most under 30, will get support from organizations such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Microsoft and venture capital firms, AIYS said.

One of the 15, Zhao Junbo joined Shanghai-based Tigerobo this year. He has a PhD from New York University and was tutored by Turing Award winner Yann Lecun.

Shanghai-based Tigerobo highlighted its AI applications in the financial information sector, which can help users search and access data or information quickly. Founded in 2017, the startup has already raised funds of 400 million yuan (US$57.1 million).

In 2018, Shanghai’s AI-related fundraising volume reached about 60 billion yuan (US$8.6 billion), a record high.

China and the United States are in “almost equal positions” in AI development, representing the world’s most advanced AI technology development level, said Lee Kaifu during WAIC. He is chairman and chief executive of Sinovation Ventures, an incubator base in China.

Lee previously worked for Microsoft, Apple and Google.