China's Race for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology

[JSCh]

China exports facial ID technology to Zimbabwe
By Shan Jie Source:Global Times Published: 2018/4/12 22:58:40

China is exporting facial recognition technology to Zimbabwe as part of the Belt and Road initiative, which marks China's first artificial intelligence (AI) technology entry to Africa.

Cloudwalk, a company based in South China's Guangdong Province, has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Zimbabwean government for a mass facial recognition project, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by Cloudwalk on Thursday.

The project will help the government build a smart financial service network as well as introduce intelligent security applications at airports, railway stations and bus stations, said the Science and Technology Daily.

The company will also help build a national facial database in Zimbabwe, the newspaper reported Thursday.

"Zimbabwe has been suffering social security issues, including robberies and shootings, so the system could help in this area," said Shen Xiaolei, an associate research fellow at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies in Beijing.

Facial recognition in Africa faces an additional challenge: AI technology currently finds it more difficult to recognize faces with darker skin, Shen told the Global Times.

Cloudwalk is recalibrating the system for darker skin metrics, Zhou Yuye, an employee at the Cloudwalk technology promotion department, told the Global Times.

Three-dimensional light technology should be able to recognize faces without being affected by skin color or light, he said.

The company is also developing an AI system which can recognize different people from their gait, shape or haircut and could be added to facial recognition, Zhou said.

By optimizing cameras to better highlight the features of people with darker skin tones, smartphone manufacturer Transsion has become a top player in Africa's fast-growing smartphone market, the Xinhua News Agency reported in August last year.

Shenzhen-based Transsion, whose products are sold under the Tecno, itel and Infinix brands, controls 40 percent of the African market.

Transsion has developed a technology that "enriches the luminance of the picture by locating eyes and teeth," Economic Daily reported.

Zimbabwe and China agreed last week to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation.

"Cooperation between China and Zimbabwe is mainly on mines, agriculture, road construction and tourism. Science and technology is not yet a priority," Shen said.

This Chinese AI industry project in Africa could contribute to the economic development and technology sharing in countries along the Belt and Road initiative and realize the win-win goal of economic benefits, the Science and Technology Daily article said.

Facial recognition in Africa faces an additional challenge: AI technology currently finds it more difficult to recognize faces with darker skin, Shen told the Global Times.

Cloudwalk is recalibrating the system for darker skin metrics, Zhou Yuye, an employee at the Cloudwalk technology promotion department, told the Global Times.

Three-dimensional light technology should be able to recognize faces without being affected by skin color or light, he said.

The company is also developing an AI system which can recognize different people from their gait, shape or haircut and could be added to facial recognition, Zhou said.

By optimizing cameras to better highlight the features of people with darker skin tones, smartphone manufacturer Transsion has become a top player in Africa's fast-growing smartphone market, the Xinhua News Agency reported in August last year.

Shenzhen-based Transsion, whose products are sold under the Tecno, itel and Infinix brands, controls 40 percent of the African market.

Transsion has developed a technology that "enriches the luminance of the picture by locating eyes and teeth," Economic Daily reported.

Zimbabwe and China agreed last week to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation.

"Cooperation between China and Zimbabwe is mainly on mines, agriculture, road construction and tourism. Science and technology is not yet a priority," Shen said.

This Chinese AI industry project in Africa could contribute to the economic development and technology sharing in countries along the Belt and Road initiative and realize the win-win goal of economic benefits, the Science and Technology Daily article said.

 

[cirr]

Artificial intelligence aids in cancer diagnosis in China

Frances Kuo

Published April 16, 2018 at 10:02 PM

Detecting cancer — one of the deadliest diseases — is not an exact science.

But, artificial intelligence is helping doctors in China make more accurate cancer diagnoses.

As CGTN’s Frances Kuo reports, it’s part of an expanding industry in the country.

The Shenzhen No. 6 People’s Hospital in southern China is marking a milestone: doctors are getting a hand from artificial intelligence.

The new system is helping diagnose one of the deadliest of all cancers – esophageal cancer.

Doctors first take images of the patient’s esophagus. Then, the AI system does its part.

“For example, we have 50 images,” explained Dr. Cheng Chunsheng of the Shenzhen No. 6 People’s Hospital. “The AI system will sort them and select pictures showing a high possibility of cancer. We only need to check five selected images for a diagnosis.”

The images are compared to those in a database containing diagnostic information from hospitals across the country.

“AI is able to learn from numerous amounts of data, that’s what humans can’t do,” said Zhou Xuan, Senior Product Director of Tencent’s Internet Plus Partnership.

Shenzhen is one of the first hospitals trying out this system for clinical testing.

“Now the accuracy of early detection of esophageal cancer has reached 90 percent, roughly the same level of diagnosis made by human doctors,” said Luo Xudong, President of the Shenzhen No. 6 People’s Hospital.

The system began trial use in other Chinese hospitals in June 2017. Since the launch, it’s served 400,000 patients. The system was developed by Chinese internet giant, Tencent.

It joins Alibaba as well as smaller start-ups in developing AI technology in healthcare.

It’s a booming industry – the International Data Corporation predicts China’s market for AI healthcare services will reach $930 million in 2022.

It’s all part of China’s plan to build a national platform for AI diagnostic medical imaging.

The goals are to improve accuracy and efficiency in China’s healthcare system, particularly as China struggles with a doctor shortage.

As for the AI system in Shenzhen and other hospitals like it, the hope is that it can be made available to most remote areas.

And, in the future, help speed diagnoses for all of China’s deadliest cancers.

Dr. Joel Selanikio discusses fusion of artifical intelligence, medicine
Diagnosing cancer is not an exact science, but doctors in China are getting some help doing so from artificial intelligence. It’s part of a push to give AI a bigger role in the healthcare system. Dr. Joel Selanikio, CEO and co-founder of mobile data collection and messaging software system Magpi, discusses the infusion of AI technology and medicine with CGTN’s Mike Walter.

https://america.cgtn.com/2018/04/16/artificial-intelligence-aids-in-cancer-diagnosis-in-china

 

[TaiShang]

Ke Jie to battle Chinese AI Go program

By Wang Jingwen | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-04-19

Chinese Go player Ke Jie competes against Google's artificial intelligence program, AlphaGo, in the last game of the Google DeepMind Challenge Match during the Future of Go Summit in Wuzhen, Jiaxing city, East China's Zhejiang province, May 27, 2017. [Photo/IC]

Ke Jie, one of the world's best Go players, will compete against another artificial intelligence Go program, China's Golaxy, on April 27 in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian province, according to chinanews.com.

Developed by a Chinese AI team, Golaxy has a very different algorithm than AlphaGo, Google's Go program that defeated Ke last year, said Jin Xing, chairman of Golaxy.

"We are exploring new methods to consume fewer computing resources and training samples," Jin said. "Golaxy has made progresses in the feature system, model structure and MCTS algorithm, compared with AlphaGo."

The results of human vs. AI Go games are no longer suspenseful, said Lin Jianchao, chairman of the Chinese Go Association.

The upcoming competition between Ke Jie and Golaxy will further test the competitive ability of the domestic AI Go program, and it will be a starting point for wide use of AI go technology in public apps, Lin said.

AlphaGoZero, the upgraded version of AlphaGo, benefits from a large number of self-play, and iteratively saves and upgrades the models.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201804/19/WS5ad84e2ea3105cdcf651952a.html

 

[TaiShang]

IFLYTEK launches 2nd generation portable translation device
By Guo Yiming
China.org.cn, April 22, 2018

China's leading artificial intelligence (AI) firm unveiled its second generation multi-language translation device on Friday in Beijing, which enables real-time audio or text translation between Chinese and 33 other languages.

IFLYTEK's 2nd generation portable translation device is available in black, gold and pink, said the product manager Zhai Jibo on April 20, 2018. [Photo courtesy of IFLYTEK]

A major upgrade from its previous edition, which enabled translation between Chinese and five other languages, the new device has a larger range of languages that enables translation between Chinese and languages such as Polish, Tamil, and Hungarian, in addition to more frequently-used ones like English and French, according to the product description.

The second generation device can recognize four types of Chinese accents, including dialects in Sichuan and Henan as well as Cantonese and the northeastern accent, said the product manager Zhai Jibo.

He said the 120 gram portable device, which features a 2.4-inch touch screen and a rear camera, can also instantly translate photographs of foreign texts.

The device is priced at 2,999 yuan (US$476.6).

Over 200,000 sets of IFLYTEK’s first generation portable translation machine have been sold in 135 countries since hitting the market in March 2017, with 86 percent of all use made during overseas travel, according to data released at the product launch event.

***

@Viet , good device if you are frequent traveler.

 

[TaiShang]

Visual AI technology to shine in 2018, China leads in facial recognition

By Li Xuanmin Source:Global Times Published: 2018/3/29

China leading the way in facial recognition sector

High-speed train passengers have their faces scanned at the barrier gates of a station in East China's Zhejiang Province so they can enter. Photo: VCG


Endless queues and long waits at the ticket inspection desks at China's major train stations were signature of the Spring Festival travel rush before this year. Every year, as the country's biggest national holiday unfolded, a huge flow of travelers would leave staff at the check-in desks feeling swamped.

But with the installment of artificial intelligence (AI) in dozens of train stations this year, including a facial recognition system which is able to process passenger identification within five seconds and therefore speed up the waiting process, busy scenes started to become something of the past.

When a passenger approaches the camera inside the facial recognition system at the station, it scans their face and then quickly compares it to the photograph shown on their identification card in real time. If the information matches, the barrier gates will open and allow the passenger to go through.

Such use of facial recognition technology is in line with discussions heard at the recent two sessions meeting, a key annual political event, which focused on the widespread application of a security network named Tianwang ("Sky Net" in English) currently being used by China's public security department.

The network, according to reports by the People's Daily, has the potential to recognize the facial features of anyone in the world and match them on the spot with photographs on a database of criminal suspects. In fact, it can analyze photographic identity so quickly that it can scan every single Chinese face on the planet in just one second, and it would only take two seconds to scan every face in the world, with an accuracy rate of up to 99.8 percent.

Those are just two examples that highlight the development of Chinese visual AI technology, which industry insiders predict could contribute to robust growth in the global technology sector this year.

Growing trend

"The year 2018 will mark a fast-track year in facial recognition technology, whose speed of growth is likely to override other AI sectors including robotics, voice recognition and natural language processing," Yang Yuxin, the vice president of Beijing-based operating system provider Thundersoft Software Technology Co, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

An industry report published on news website sohu.com in March echoed Yang's prediction by summarizing the financing of China's AI start-ups and concluding that the computer vision and image analysis sector has been the "hottest" destination for domestic investors lately.

The sector has even topped the country's investment list with a financing amount of 14.3 billion yuan ($2.27 billion), representing 23 percent of the total funds flowing into the global AI industry.

One of the reasons behind the popularity of AI-powered visual technology is the wide range of scenarios in which it can be applied, making it easier for investors to "envision a bright business prospect and quickly capitalize on their investment," Yang explained.

Security is just one of many areas where visual technology is being applied. In addition to targeting consumers, AI start-ups have already started to tailor their visual technology services to domestic companies focused on such technology as unmanned vehicle-makers and manufacturing.

For example, Thundersoft has partnered with local factories to facilitate the application of AI visual technology in production lines so as to maintain quality control and supervise the production environment, Yang said. The move has helped manufacturers reduce labor costs and improve efficiency.

Lu Feng, an industry analyst at Beijing-based consultancy firm CCID Consulting, also underscored the trend of combing AI visual technology with 2018's emerging industries, for example, the new retail sector.

In unmanned supermarkets, which are part of the new retail concept, visual technology can help capture and analyze consumer behavior, through which, companies can improve their store's setting and displays to attract more buyers. Adopting a facial recognition system could also prevent shoplifting and help analyze consumer data.

With market players deeming those technologies as promising, they have in turn pumped up the number of start-ups in the sector. Currently, there are 146 visual AI technology companies in China, the biggest number of any type of AI firm across the country, the news report by sohu.com showed.

But analysts do not expect all those start-ups to thrive.

"I think an industry reshuffle will take place next year… the clock is ticking and visual AI start-ups that focus on researching basic algorithms should scramble to find applications, otherwise their capital pool will dry out in 2019," Yang noted.

M&A in Europe

Taking into account the abovementioned scenarios and China's large amount of data, the nation has an edge over US rivals in terms of AI visual technology application. However, in terms of the industry's foundation, such as basic theory and algorithms, domestic companies are still catching up with the standards set by foreign competitors, Lu noted.

But recent mergers and acquisitions (M&A) inked between Thundersoft and European peers may offer some insight into Chinese companies that are aiming to introduce cutting-edged AI technologies.

Thundersoft, for example, announced on Thursday that it has acquired Bulgarian software provider MM Solutions AD (MMS) in a deal worth 31 million euros ($38.16 million).

"Acquiring MMS will largely reduce the time we take to achieve new technological breakthroughs, which in turn will elevate our technological competitiveness… It's like strengthening our innovation ability through external dynamics," Zhao Hongfei, CEO of Thundersoft, said.

In a similar move, Thundersoft also acquired Finnish auto software maker Rightward for $68 million in December 2016.

Asked why Thundersoft has been eyeing European firms recently, Yang explained that compared with the US, European AI start-ups can be seen as "unexploited gold mines" with long-term business prospects and market competitive M&A prices.

"Most European firms have rich experiences in developing technology, they also have a very strict system when training talents," Yang said.

By this, Yang was referring to the fact that it can take about 18 months for MMS to fully train a visual technology engineer. In contrast, the training period is generally six months in China. Yang also noted that after the MMS deal was completed, he would send some employees from Thundersoft to MMS for further training.

Furthermore, the European capital market has not been developing as fast as either market in China or the US, meaning it is usually a great bargain when Chinese investors acquire European tech peers.

"We bought the two European tech firms at a price that was less than ten times their price-earnings (PE) ratio. The price has to be at least twenty times the PE ratio here in China," he added.

***

@qwerrty , it is the first time I heard of Thundersoft.

 

[TaiShang]

Alibaba announces AI deal with Audi, Daimler and Volvo
China Daily, April 24, 2018

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced three partnerships on Monday with leading carmakers on artificial intelligence-backed connected vehicle services, cementing its commitment to the auto sector.

Under the cooperation, owners of Daimler, Audi and Volvo cars in China will be able to remotely access information about their vehicles, such as location, engine status and fuel checks, using Alibaba's voice assistant service.

AliGenie, the AI platform powering Alibaba's iconic smart speaker Tmall Genie, enables voice enquiries that unlock doors and turn on air conditioning before the driver even reaches the car, said Chen Lijuan, head of Alibaba AI Labs, an in-house AI research unit.

The tie-up will also help enrich the in-car infotainment portfolio based on Alibaba's content offerings from access to video site Youku and music streaming service Xiami.

"You can check the best route via Tmall Genie at home and send that information to your car," Chen told a media event in Beijing, citing the example of turning on the car's heater in winter as soon as the owner wakes up.

Ideally, the world will inch even closer to a future where people can control appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines from inside their car, she noted.

According to Alibaba, the first batch of such cars will be available in June, including selected Mercedes-Benz and Volvo models. For instance, Volvo's three current models, XC90, S90 and XC60, will integrate the AI-powered voice command feature through soft-ware upgrades in future rollouts.

Partnerships with other automakers will follow soon, Chen said.

Through the move, the tech powerhouse is scheduled to open up its ability on the so-called AI+Car solution from September.

Chinese customers are more willing to embrace new technologies and functionalities compared with consumers elsewhere, fueling momentum for developing smart interconnected cars, said Heinz-Willi Vassen, R&D director at Audi China.

Electrification, intelligence and interconnectedness are the big trends in the automotive industry, propelling internet companies such as Alibaba to leverage their frontier technologies to help carmakers adapt to these trends, said Neil Wang, president of consultancy Frost & Sullivan in China.

"AliGenie's application in intelligent transportation is a clear demonstration of how it combines the deep understanding of Chinese customers, the expertise in a number of technologies, with the products and solutions tailored to real-life needs," he said.

 

[qwerrty]

Alibaba announces AI deal with Audi, Daimler and Volvo
China Daily, April 24, 2018

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced three partnerships on Monday with leading carmakers on artificial intelligence-backed connected vehicle services, cementing its commitment to the auto sector.

Under the cooperation, owners of Daimler, Audi and Volvo cars in China will be able to remotely access information about their vehicles, such as location, engine status and fuel checks, using Alibaba's voice assistant service.

AliGenie, the AI platform powering Alibaba's iconic smart speaker Tmall Genie, enables voice enquiries that unlock doors and turn on air conditioning before the driver even reaches the car, said Chen Lijuan, head of Alibaba AI Labs, an in-house AI research unit.

The tie-up will also help enrich the in-car infotainment portfolio based on Alibaba's content offerings from access to video site Youku and music streaming service Xiami.

"You can check the best route via Tmall Genie at home and send that information to your car," Chen told a media event in Beijing, citing the example of turning on the car's heater in winter as soon as the owner wakes up.

Ideally, the world will inch even closer to a future where people can control appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines from inside their car, she noted.

According to Alibaba, the first batch of such cars will be available in June, including selected Mercedes-Benz and Volvo models. For instance, Volvo's three current models, XC90, S90 and XC60, will integrate the AI-powered voice command feature through soft-ware upgrades in future rollouts.

Partnerships with other automakers will follow soon, Chen said.

Through the move, the tech powerhouse is scheduled to open up its ability on the so-called AI+Car solution from September.

Chinese customers are more willing to embrace new technologies and functionalities compared with consumers elsewhere, fueling momentum for developing smart interconnected cars, said Heinz-Willi Vassen, R&D director at Audi China.

Electrification, intelligence and interconnectedness are the big trends in the automotive industry, propelling internet companies such as Alibaba to leverage their frontier technologies to help carmakers adapt to these trends, said Neil Wang, president of consultancy Frost & Sullivan in China.

"AliGenie's application in intelligent transportation is a clear demonstration of how it combines the deep understanding of Chinese customers, the expertise in a number of technologies, with the products and solutions tailored to real-life needs," he said.

byd joining baidu' apollo and new supacar

BYD to unveil all-new concept E-SEED at Auto China 2018

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/70014530.html

Baidu unveils Apollo 2.5, wins 100th partner BYD
Charice From Gasgoo| April 19,2018

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On April 19, Chinese Internet giant Baidu unveiled the Apollo 2.5, the latest version of the open autonomous driving platform that currently supports vision-based high-speed autonomous driving in limited areas.

At the launching ceremony for Apollo's one-year anniversary, Baidu announced that BYD has officially joined the Apollo platform and became its 100th partners. Meanwhile, the Internet giant also announced the establishment of the Apollo Automotive Cybersecurity Lab to further promote the safety implementation of autonomous driving.

Currently, Baidu Apollo has teamed up with 100 companies worldwide, including many traditional mainstream automakers like Chery, JAC Motors, BAIC BJEV, Great Wall Motor as well as some top components suppliers like Continental AG, Bosch and Delphi. Apart from that, its cooperation still extends to mobility service providers, traditional auto electronics suppliers, autonomous driving core parts suppliers, autonomous driving tech integrators as well as underlying software platforms, etc.

It is worth mentioning that the Apollo 2.5 reduces 90% of the sensor cost by virtue of the camera-based virtual perception solutions. In addition, the latest iteration opens and upgrades some developer tools, including opening the Dockerfile and upgrading the visual tool GreamView, the data collector Apollo Drive Event, the Apollo HD (high-definition) map data collector and the Apollo simulation platform.

Moreover, the Apollo 2.5 has been added a new scenario of truck logistics. At the launching ceremony, Baidu played a video demonstrating that CiDi (Changsha Intelligent Driving Research Institute) integrated Apollo 2.5 into a truck and made the vehicle run autonomously on highways.

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Horizon Robotics Exerts Tight Grip Over Artificial Intelligence Stack

James Morra | Apr 23, 2018

As the race intensifies to run machine learning tasks in embedded devices instead of the cloud, several companies are trying to set themselves up with custom chips to ease the shift. Horizon Robotics is not only tackling chips but also software and the cloud, with an eye toward beating rivals in applications like security cameras and autonomous cars.

“The chip is the local brain that directly senses the surrounding environment, while the algorithm is the miner of the data,” said Kai Yu, founder and chief executive of Horizon Robotics, and the former head of Baidu’s artificial intelligence unit, called the Institute of Deep Learning, in an interview with Electronic Design.

“We want to empower end devices with A.I. capacity and make them smart without relying on the cloud alone,” Yu said, adding that the “chip and algorithms are used to perceive and filter big data, perform real-time processing and transmit valuable data to the cloud for further mining and modeling. Each component works together.”

The central component in Horizon Robotics’ SoCs is the brain processing unit, a custom block of circuitry that specializes in algorithms trained on vast libraries of images, hundreds of hours of video, or other data. The silicon slab can also be slipped into chips like field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), Yu said.

The Beijing, China-based company is aiming to plant its chips into tens of millions of smart cameras over the next two years. Developing and deploying the technology so quickly led it to raise $100 million in venture capital last year from investors including Sequoia Capital, state-owned China Jianyin Investment, Harvest Fund Management and Intel Capital.

One of Horizon Robotics' chips, Sunrise, runs facial recognition or other inference algorithms with up to a trillion operations per second. The company recently released a security camera using it at the International Security Technology Show in Las Vegas. The camera can identify and follow 200 objects within each frame of video, recognizing the face of customers in a clothing store, for example, or plucking a criminal suspect from a crowded sidewalk.

With Sunrise, based on 40-nanometer technology, the camera runs at 30 frames per second while consuming 1.5 watts. With support for 50,000 different faces and 99.7 percent accuracy, the system can avoid the latency and bandwidth issues introduced by steaming data to servers in the cloud, where training and inference typically occur.

While Horizon Robotics has the upper hand over American rivals in China, the challenge is in keeping its hardware and software on the same page. While software engineers can change lines of code relatively fast, chip designers need several months and millions of dollars to prototype chips and get them back from the foundry. “It’s been a priority since the get-go,” Yu said.

He added that four-fifths of the company’s more than 300 employees have research and development backgrounds. Other founders of Horizon Robotics include Chang Huang, a founder of Baidu’s A.I. business unit, and Ming Yang, a founder of Facebook’s A.I. research team. Feng Zhou, a former principle chip architect for Huawei’s HiSilicon business, leads chip development.

In many ways, the company’s pincer attack on machine learning mirrors China’s national strategy. Not only has the country pledged $150 billion to close the technology gap between American and Chinese chip suppliers – and reduce its roughly $275 billion in annual chip imports – but it is also pushing to become the world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030.

The machine learning movement could level the playing field for China’s chips, particularly as the focus shifts to custom over commodity products. Horizon Robotics uses 40nm technology that entered production almost a decade ago, but it is jumping into embedded inference with companies like Qualcomm, which has started sampling 10nm chips that can be installed in networks of security cameras.

China’s ambitions include the deployment of 30 million autonomous cars within the next decade. Horizon Robotics is also trying to tap into the momentum behind that market. The company has partnered with Robert Bosch and Ford’s Chinese partner Chongqing Changan Automobile, among others, to put its automotive camera processor, called Journey, through its paces.

Horizon Robotics designed Journey to spot pedestrians, lane markings and other vehicles on the road and help driverless cars avert accidents. The chip may ultimately compete with systems from Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia and Intel’s Mobileye business. Bloomberg reported that the company is looking to have autonomous test cars on Chinese roads by 2019.

“China right now is a huge market for a lot of innovation happening in machine learning, from city management and security to autonomous driving,” said Yu, a member of the country’s strategic artificial intelligence advisory board. “China is a great playground for us to develop and mature these products for the rest of the world.”

http://www.electronicdesign.com/embedded-revolution/horizon-robotics-exerts-tight-grip-over-artificial-intelligence-stack

 

[cirr]

China's Alibaba signs agreement with automakers to connect cars to homes

2018-04-24 13:47 Xinhua Editor: Gu Liping

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has signed an agreement to supply its artificial intelligence technology to global automakers, assisting Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volvo car owners in China to control their cars from home.

The voice-activated assistant Tmall Genie, which was developed by Alibaba AI Labs, the company's artificial intelligence arm, will allow home-to-vehicle connectivity, Alibaba said Monday.

"Users will be able to turn on air conditioning, lock car doors, and open the trunk from their home," said Chen Lijuan, head of Alibaba AI Labs.

Tmall Genie could also perform functions like planning a route or controlling music.

The voice assistant will also allow car owners to perform diagnostics on the car's engine, battery, and other components and check the car's location and fuel levels in the future, according to Alibaba.

Chen said Tmall Genie uses voiceprint recognition technology to identify authorized car users.

http://www.ecns.cn/business/2018/04-24/300223.shtml

 

[qwerrty]

technode.com
ChinaBang 2018's top 5 AI startups · TechNode
Masha Borak
6-7 minutes

The times they are a-changin’: in 2016, widescale commercial application of artificial intelligence was still a faraway high-tech dream. The ChinaBang Awards did not even have a specialized category for this technology.

2017 marked a new milestone—China decided to become the world’s strongest AI power. In the same year, ChinaBang gave out awards to three best AI products, giving a glimpse of the potential that was about to unravel.

2018 has seen China’s AI companies rising to the forefront and this year’s ChinaBang winners have proven that the country has plenty to offer to the world. Here are the five winners of the 7th ChinaBang Awards in the category of Best AI.

1. SenseTime (商汤科技)

SenseTime is the most valuable artificial intelligence startup in the world. In April, the deep learning developer secured $600 million financing round led by Alibaba.

The company owes its success to its talent—an area in which China still lags behind compared to developed countries. The company was founded by one of China’s most prominent AI scientists Prof. Tang Xiao’ou from the Chinese University Hong Kong.

“As an AI company with a strong academic background, SenseTime has more than 800 researchers, including more than 150 Ph.D. students from the world’s top school. It is the largest group of Chinese scientists in the field of AI in Asia which gave SenseTime a foundation for fast development,” SenseTime Senior PR Manager Chris Gao told TechNode.

Favorable national policies to support AI development is another reason why the company has reached this level. But China also has the advantage of a multitude of application scenarios, says Gao. Many new industries have developed and acceptance of fresh ideas is quite strong. SenseTime now supplies over 400 companies and government agencies with their technology.

2. Face++ (Megvii)

One field of AI has been particularly successful in China is image and face recognition. Face++, also known as Megvii, defeated 15 AI giants in computer vision competitions including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. The company, which has users in more than 200 countries, is another award-winner at ChinaBang.

“Face recognition is a relatively neutral technology, so it doesn’t have application value in just one industry,” Face++ Operation Director Wei Wenyuan told TechNode. “We choose the most suitable one and at the same time the most abundant one in data and scenarios: Finance, security, retail, mobile phones, logistics, real estate and other industries.”

Currently, face recognition technology is most widely used in security and surveillance: 32 provinces and cities in China have integrated intelligent features in their public security system, said Wei. But Face++ is not stopping there: video recognition, IoT, and robotics are the next step. The company has recently bought robotics company Aresbots and is developing a robot for Foxconn, the company most famous for manufacturing the iPhone.

3. DeePhi (深鉴)

Developing hardware for AI is harder than one would think. DeePhi stands out in chips and hardware architecture.

“Looking at technology realization, the threshold for hardware technology is higher than that of software,” DeePhi Senior Brand Director Ji Yun told TechNode. “The accumulation of technology and knowledge needed by employees is more complex, and the cycle to product realization is also long.”

Thanks to the rapid development of computing power, algorithms have been evolving faster. However, if we are to have bigger breakthroughs in applications, we need to revolutionize the optimization of hardware, says Ji.

During the second half of 2018, the company will launch its self-developed deep learning SoC chip called Ting (听涛). The company has received investments from US semiconductor product developer Xilinx, Alibaba’s financial arm Ant Financial, and from Samsung, one of the world’s largest chip maker.

4. Ping An Technology (平安科技)

Ping An is not a name one would connect with AI at first look; it is one of China’s largest insurance companies. But it turns out insurance plays well with AI. One example is car accidents: Ping An Technology uses image recognition to assess the damage to the car.

Ping An is also looking into other applications including medicine where image recognition for X-rays is used for diagnosis, customer support where voice recognition is used to assess the customer’s mood, and even in music. Ping An’s AI music won first place award the International AI Music Composition Competition hosted by Switzerland’s Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne (EPFL) in January.

5. Westwell Lab (西井科技)

The final ChinBang awards winner is certainly a unique entrant to this list—it really gets to your brain. Westwell started with a splash in 2016 when it presented “Westwell Brain,” the first brain simulation to have 10 billion neurons with hardware. The company has developed the DeepSouth neural processor, a chip that simulates human brain neurons. DeepSouth is an answer to IBM’s own experiment inspired by the brain, the TrueNorth neuromorphic chip.

Westwell has branched out to other areas of medicine such as gene sequencing, health-focused wearables, and medical equipment. The company has recently moved to heavy machinery. Westwell Lab is developing products in industrial robotics, unmanned equipment for container terminals and ports, as well as autonomous vehicles.

Westwell’s investors include Fosun Group.

 

[TaiShang]

China should have role in setting global AI standards

By Li Qiaoyi Source:Global Times Published: 2018/4/26

Illustration: Luo Xuan/GT


The fast-paced adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in China, home to the world's largest internet-using population, should not only validate the immense investment in the nation's AI sector, but should also make the case for China's role in creating global standards for the technology.

In a sign that the nation is swiftly embracing the disruptive new technology, AI-powered face recognition was widely used at the just-concluded first Digital China Summit in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province. The summit was yet another milestone in AI development after a Go summit last May in the Chinese water town of Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang Province. At the Go summit, Google's Go-playing AI AlphaGo trounced top-ranked Chinese Go grandmasters, piquing many Chinese people's curiosity about AI.

At the Digital China Summit, many were amazed by the extent to which AI was being applied. At the reception counters for summit participants at Fuzhou's railway station and airport as well as at hotels where they were staying, they didn't need to show their ID cards or other identity documents. They simply needed to look at the face scanners, which could instantly identify them. They could use the same technology to pass through security clearance access points both outside and within the summit venue.

The prevalent use of the technology at the event might help catapult Fuzhou, a city with a history of over 2,200 years, into pole position as one of the country's smartest cities. It could then become a role model to be copied throughout the country, amid the national efforts to develop an AI-powered economy.

In guidelines for AI development released in July 2017, the State Council, China's cabinet, set a goal for the country's core AI industries to be worth 1 trillion yuan ($158.07 billion) by 2030. The figure for all related industries will be 10 trillion yuan, per the guidelines.

This is part of the reason why investors from both home and abroad have so much interest in the country's AI sector. However, something that seems to have been neglected so far and that could be of pivotal importance for China's AI ambitions is that the country needs to turn the advantage of AI adoption into greater influence in setting global AI technology standards.

This is not just about the country's push for AI dominance, although influence in the setting of standards would be a factor in rising to the top of the AI food chain. It also makes sense scientifically to give greater weight to China in the process of setting global standards for AI given its leading role in developing the technology.

Currently, the US still leads in basic AI theory, core algorithms and key hardware for AI, so the US standards have been widely considered the "gold" standard that should be shared by the rest of the world. But with AI technologies being increasingly adopted in China, the default US rules should perhaps no longer be taken for granted.

Zhu Long, chief executive and co-founder of Chinese AI unicorn YITU Technology, said Monday in a speech at the Digital China Summit that the standards that have been set without any participation from top Chinese technology providers are actually biased and inaccurate in scientific terms.

The argument is that the US, with a population of over 300 million people, has developed its standards from tests based on a fraction of its population. This obviously doesn't fit the bill if the user scenario could potentially involve a much greater number of people.

Take face recognition as an example. The difficulty of accurate face identification grows rapidly as the sample size increases and it surely makes sense for face recognition technology that is ever more prevalently used in China to be involved in setting standards for the technology.

In many cases of technological development, China has been forced to play catch-up, with the need to initially reduce the technological gap before having a role in setting global standards. But in the case of AI development, China has made impressive headway in adopting the technology, so it should be a different situation.

There should be a greater awareness among leading Chinese AI firms of the need to focus not just on AI research and applications, but to pursue greater clout in the setting of standards. Likewise, the government should also endorse efforts to lead the global standards for the technology, as part of a broader AI push that could foster innovation in the Chinese economy.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1099847.shtml

 

[cirr]

China likely to use new AI-powered security system at civilian airports: developer

2018-04-27 10:53 Global Times Editor: Li Yan

Likely to replace current one at all civilian airports

The people's privacy and well-being are the focus of China's new AI-powered security system developed by the country's top State-owned high-tech company, said the system's chief designer on Thursday.

The No.35 Institute of the 3rd Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) unveiled its 3D Millimeter-wave personal screening security system at a press event on Wednesday.

The new artificial intelligence-powered system is capable of detecting 89 types of hazardous articles, including non-metallic substances such as corrosive, flammable and combustible liquid and gum forming compounds undetectable by current security screening system of China.

It is 95 percent accurate and only takes 0.7 seconds, while the electromagnetic radiation level is less than 0.0014 milliwatts per square centimeter, according to an institute statement sent to the Global Times.

"Using military technology in a civilian security system makes it safer, and focuses on the public's well-being," Hu Lin, the system's chief designer, told the Global Times.

Compared to current X-ray screening machines, the new product works at much lower radiation levels, about 0.1 percent of cell phone signals, the statement said.

"The millimeter-wave system has been examined by the country's inspection departments, and its working radiation rate data has been disclosed to the public. Hopefully, the public will not worry about security checks anymore," Hu noted.

The AI integrated system also regularly updates its recognition of emerging contraband through platform updates "as easily as updating your phone applications," the statement added.

Such a security system best reflects civil-military integration, as its core technology, ranging from its physical design to radar detector, comes from military research, the institute stressed in the statement.

The new system has been tested at airports in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as well as South China's Hainan and Guangdong provinces. Its performance has earned high praise, a publicity department employee at the institute, surnamed Zhao, told the Global Times.

The institute said taking privacy protection into consideration, the system projects an image of the person on a monitor while processing the person's face and private parts.

The new system is likely to replace the current one at all of China's civilian airports, the institute said in the statement.

http://www.ecns.cn/2018/04-27/300679.shtml

 

[TaiShang]

Chinese AI Go program wins faceoff with top player Ke Jie

By Gao Yun
2018-04-27

A Chinese-developed artificial intelligence (AI) program won the game with Ke Jie, the world’s top Go player, on Friday in Fuzhou, capital of east China’s Fujian Province.

The AI program, dubbed “Golaxy”, has “learnt from AlphaGo thesis, but made breakthroughs in the feature system, model structure and algorithm structure that exceed AlphaGo,” said Jin Xing, chairman of Golaxy, adding that it showcases Chinese AI companies’ spirit of active exploration and capability of innovation.

It has won 28 out of 30 games against the world’s top Go players after launching on April 12.

Golaxy won’t be a simple repetition of AlphaGo thesis, stressed Jin. The team is now “exploring new methods to consume fewer computing resources and training samples.”

“There is always a sense of incapability when I play Go with AI, as its algorithm and overall judgment are far beyond me. It’s indeed difficult,” said Ke.

“The fearlessness and spirit to scale new heights is admirable,” said Lei Xiang referring to Ke’s courage to once again challenge the AI program.

Go, also known as weiqi, is a traditional Chinese game that originated about 4,000 years ago. It is essentially a fight for territory on a 19-by-19 square board, and has fascinated players in Asia and around the world for at least two millennia.

 

[TaiShang]

Baidu, Peking University cooperate on AI research
Xinhua, April 29, 2018

Robin Li, founder of search engine Baidu, Saturday announced a donation of 660 million yuan (104 million U.S. dollars) to Peking University (PKU) to promote research on artificial intelligence (AI).

The "PKU-Baidu fund" will be used to support frontier research in AI-related subjects such as information science, medicine, economics, communication, psychology, and sociology, which are highly consistent with Baidu's long-term endeavors in the AI sector.

Lin Jianhua, president of PKU, said the establishment of the fund, just days before the university's 120th anniversary, will lead the next generation into the future and help them seize new opportunities in the new era.

Li said a combination of Baidu's strong technology and experience in the field and PKU's academic research abilities will produce more achievements that are beneficial to the country and society.

 

[TaiShang]

Ping An Technology CEO sees AI a core focus

By CGTN’s Xia Cheng
2018-04-30


Ping An Technology is the key technology arm of the Ping An Group with research and development capabilities in cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technology. With AI widely seen as an investment-worthy technology for the financial industry, the company is putting it at the epicenter of investment.

Ericson Chan, CEO of the Ping An Technology, said the firm focuses on the whole spectrum of technology and spent 120 million US dollars in research and development last year. AI is core among a range of technologies including blockchain, cloud and security for Ping An Technology. And the company provides end-to-end solutions so that other companies can easily leverage on a subscription basis.

Ericson Chan, CEO of the Ping An Technology /CGTN Photo

“I think AI is embedded into many things," Chan said. "But we do offer AI services as part of Ping An Cloud. For example, some of the other companies might want to leverage AI for wealth management purposes. During the wealth management sales process, we embed facial recognition, voice authentication, and microexpression. It is many different AI services bundled into one holistic solution.”

At the same time, the company is starting to do big data analysis and put more effort on predictive AI for smart city and healthcare.

“For example... we have started to do illness forecast," Chan said. "We also do medical imaging. Last month, our medical imaging on lung nodule, from the x-ray through the machine learning modeling, we became the world’s No.1 in accuracy.”

Meanwhile, Chan is optimistic about its business prospects though he is acutely aware of the trade tension between China and US and ZTE ban issue.

“No matter what is happening in the market, we believe in eco-systems. We believe in open platforms. This is why we have five eco-systems from finance, health, house, auto, to smart city. We also always look for opportunities to partner with other institutes and companies. So whoever would like to partner with us, we would like to take a serious look at it,” Chan said.

 

[TaiShang]

Hands on: iFlyTek revamps its AI translator with touchscreen and more languages

By Gong Zhe
2018-05-01


Chinese speech recognition giant iFlyTek released its second-generation handheld translator gadget last Friday, with the latest iteration including a touchscreen and the addition of 33 languages.

CGTN has covered the Hefei-based company's first-generation device many times, which sometimes confused users, as it had no screen, but simply a speaker and a light indicator to show it was working.

In the latest device, the company has fixed that shortcoming, and added a touchscreen to make the user experience easier.

"Now you can have a better interaction with the device. No need to worry about if it's still functioning," said the product manager Zhai Jibo.

Another upgrade is language options. It now supports 33 languages that can "cover more than 95 percent of your travel destinations," iFlyTek co-founder Hu Yu said during the press conference.

The new device can now recognize heavy Chinese accents and even Cantonese, which has an entirely different vocabulary than Mandarin Chinese.

We at CGTN are tired of tech companies bragging, so we designed a series of tests to see if the device stood up to the hype. The tests were designed based on previous errors made by other AIs from other Chinese companies.

So how does the device deal with stuttering, understanding a heavy Chinese accent, or decoding complex sentences? Watch it in the cover video (spoiler: it's a pass).

People from the company gave us some insight on how the device works, with a significant change being that the device has a phone SIM card slot, which means it can contact a cloud AI with 4G connection.

The AI, has been in development by iFlyTek for more than a decade and is one of the first neural networks designed for voice recognition. It can cancel out noise as well as guess at the context of sentences, making it stand out from its competitors.

If you are concerned with privacy, offline translation is also available.

iFlyTek said they designed the second-generation device with traveling in mind. Users can purchase data packages when they are outside of China, and share the data quota with smartphones and laptops nearby.

"We are yet to know the size of the market. But this device is a blunt demonstration of the power of our technology in voice recognition and real-time translation," Zhai told reporters.

In addition to the translator, iFlyTek has also empowered their AI transcript software with translating capabilities.

The program was used to transcribe and translate all speeches made during the press release. But a CGTN reporter found that the English translation sometimes appears so quick that people can barely see the text.

The device is already available for purchase on the Chinese mainland. So if a Chinese person points a phone-like gadget at you. Don't be scared. They may just want to chat.

Watch the video of this amazing gadget.