China has world's most AI unicorn companies

[Beidou2020]

China has world's most AI unicorn companies
By Yang Yang | chinadaily.com.cn
Updated: Dec 9, 2020

A visitor experiences artificial intelligence equipment at an exhibition in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, on April 28. [Photo by Meng Delong/For China Daily]

China tops the list of countries with the most artificial intelligence unicorn companies in the world, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Tuesday.

With 206 AI unicorn companies, China took a leading role in the number of such firms in 2019, said the report, citing An Hui, deputy chief engineer of the CCID Research Institute, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

From 2015 to 2019, Chinese artificial intelligence companies raised $40 billion, ranking second in the world and accounting for 22 percent of the total, An said at an AI industrial summit in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province.

Statistics show that, as of the middle of October, China had 1,499 smart robot companies, 2,707 drone companies, 6,722 face recognition companies, 2,855 smart voice companies, and 6,143 smart driving companies.

In 2019, Chinese government launched about 276 policies to promote AI development in the country.

It is expected that China's face recognition market share will account for 44.59 percent of the world's total by 2023.

About 783,000 industrial robots are currently in operation in Chinese factories and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the development of AI in the medical field, the report said.

 

[TaiShang]

China has world's most AI unicorn companies
By Yang Yang | chinadaily.com.cn
Updated: Dec 9, 2020
View attachment 694445A visitor experiences artificial intelligence equipment at an exhibition in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, on April 28. [Photo by Meng Delong/For China Daily]

China tops the list of countries with the most artificial intelligence unicorn companies in the world, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Tuesday.

With 206 AI unicorn companies, China took a leading role in the number of such firms in 2019, said the report, citing An Hui, deputy chief engineer of the CCID Research Institute, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

From 2015 to 2019, Chinese artificial intelligence companies raised $40 billion, ranking second in the world and accounting for 22 percent of the total, An said at an AI industrial summit in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province.

Statistics show that, as of the middle of October, China had 1,499 smart robot companies, 2,707 drone companies, 6,722 face recognition companies, 2,855 smart voice companies, and 6,143 smart driving companies.

In 2019, Chinese government launched about 276 policies to promote AI development in the country.

It is expected that China's face recognition market share will account for 44.59 percent of the world's total by 2023.

About 783,000 industrial robots are currently in operation in Chinese factories and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the development of AI in the medical field, the report said.

Unicorns are important for innovation and brand creation.

 

[KurtisBrian]

LOL ai unicorn. Look at them all dying. LOL a unicorn is a UNICORN. Obviously no more unicorns. die

 

[TaiShang]

Chinese AI Chip Unicorn Horizon Banks USD350 Mln in Fundraiser Led by Great Wall Motors

www.yicaiglobal.com

Yicai Global) Feb. 10 -- Horizon Robotics, a six-year-old startup that develops artificial intelligence chips with a focus on autonomous driving, has raised USD350 million in its latest fundraiser led by Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motors, the firm said yesterday.

Other participants in the C-3 round of financing included electric carmaker BYD, car parts manufacturer Changjiang Automobile Electronic and Dongfeng Asset Management. No specific investment amounts were given, nor the resulting shareholding.

Baoding, northern Hebei province-based Great Wall Motors at the same time signed a strategic cooperation deal with Horizon that will see the two players work together to develop smart auto products, in particular advanced driving assistance systems, high-level unmanned driving and smart cockpit technology.

Great Wall Motors and Horizon will build full-chain self-driving AI core technology together and promote mass production of these products, said Wei Jianjun, chairman of the carmaker.

Beijing-based Horizon is preparing to launch a new generation chip Journey 5 for Level Three and Level Four autonomous driving, in which the car can perform most functions on its own but still needs human intervention at times, in the first half of this year, according to the company’s website. It started mass production of automotive AI chips last year.

The startup has raised USD900 million in Series-C funding, much more than its target of USD700 million. Last December it secured USD150 million in a C-1 round and a further USD400 million in a C-2 round last month. Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital, electric car battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology, Beijing-based venture capital firm Hillhouse Capital and the UK’s investment management firm Baillie Gifford took part.

The funds will be used to promote the development and commercialization of a new generation of automotive smart chips, it said.

Prior to this, Horizon bagged USD600 million in Series-B financing in February 2019, giving it a valuation of USD3 billion at the time.

 

[TaiShang]

AI Is Among 37 Undergrad Majors Added by China’s Universities

www.yicaiglobal.com

(Yicai Global) March 3 -- Thirty-seven new majors, including for artificial intelligence, quantum information science, flexible electronics, and cryptography, have been added to a list of undergraduate disciplines at centers of higher learning in China, according to the Science and Technology Daily.

The country’s education ministry recently released the list of approved undergrad majors for colleges and universities, the report said today.

According to the list, 102 institutions have set up five or more new programs and 130, the largest number, have added AI. Eighty-four have launched a major for intelligent manufacturing engineering. Big Data management and applications, robotics engineering, networking and new media, and cross-border e-commerce were also very popular, with more than 40 embracing majors in these fields.

Seven institutions, such as Nankai University and Beijing Institute of Technology, were approved to add a cryptography and technology major, while Tsinghua University got the nod for a major on smart engineering and creative design. University of Science and Technology of China got approval to add a quantum information major and Northwestern Polytechnical University one on flexible electronics.

Most of the majors the institutions gave up on last year were related to public utility management, information management and information systems, electronic information science and technology, product design, industrial design, clothing and accessories design, and information and computing science. More than 10 institutions cancelled these majors.

Westlake University, a new type of non-profit institution, also appeared on the list, with five undergraduate programs approved: physics, chemistry, biological sciences, materials science and engineering, and electronic information engineering. Westlake was set up by the non-state sector and has yet to enroll undergrads.