Alibaba Group Launchs Laboratory Joint With Two Top Universities In China For The Teliti Artificial Intelligence (AI)

JAKARTA Alibaba Group Holding, a multinational company from China focused on e-commerce, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI), has launched a joint laboratory with the University of Peging and the University of Chinese Science and Technology (USTC). The joint laboratory is aimed at research and AI development.

The Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant and South China Morning Post media owner announced over the weekend that it was launching the AI Innovation Joint Lab, a project between its online advertising subsidiary, Alhambara, and Peging University. The lab focuses on theory, methodology, and key technologies on AI, both parties say.

The Beijing-based university has a two-decade track record in AI. In 2002, the university launched the Intelligence and Technology School of Science, the first of its kind in China. Since then, the university has become a leading university in its field.

The announcement of the new lab comes just two days after the Damo Academy, Alibaba's internal research institute, said on September 15 that it had launched a Smart Computing Lab with the Chinese University of Science and Technology (USTC) in Hefei, the capital of eastern Anhui province. The lab, according to USTC's announcement, will focus on cognitive intelligence, computing that maintains privacy, smart speech technology, natural language processing, and machine vision.

The Damo Academy has also stepped up work in AI and other fields. A week before announcing collaboration with USTC, the Damo Academy employed two leading AI scientists to lead smart city projects and Augmented Reality (AR) laboratories.

Alibaba founded the Damo Academy in 2017, when many local internet giants, including Baidu and Tencent Holdings, began working with local universities and facilities to launch their own efforts as part of encouraging AI development in the country.

Laboratorys from the three major tech companies were among 19 national research laboratories approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in February that year. Baidu focuses on in-depth learning while Tencent is dedicated to big data.

While Chinese tech giants have issued significant funds for AI researchers, their efforts are pale compared to many international counterparts. The US still dominates the AI industry, according to the 2000 AI index published by Tsinghua University in January. Of the 21 subcategories - which include natural language learning, computer vision, chip technology, Internet of Things, and Augmented Reality - 16 were led by US undergraduates in the ranking.

Among the top-ranked Chinese AI scholars are Jia Yangqing, vice president of Alibaba, and He Xiangnan, who heads the USTC Data Science Lab. Meanwhile, US tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft are the top three technology companies working in AI based on the number of scholars, respectively with 181, 87, and 65 people. Alibaba is in the top 20 with 14 undergraduates as staff.

The US accounts for nearly 60 percent of the 1,146 scholars in the 2000 AI index, while China is in second place with 232 registered scholars.

As distrust deepens between the US and China, Washington has stepped up its scrutiny of China's purchasing technology, leading to a series of sanctions restricting access to advanced technologies such as semiconductors and AI. Recently, the US banned exports to certain Chinese graphics processing units (GPUs) made by California, Nvidia and AMD-based chip giants.

As is well known, the GPU is an important element in the development of Artificial Intelligence. US actions prohibiting GPU exports to China have the potential to slow the pace of AI growth in the Bamboo Curtain country.