Chinese tech hub Shenzhen yesterday released an action plan aimed at accelerating the city’s AI development between 2023 and 2024 — the latest in a series of moves to develop the Chinese “Silicon Valley” into a global AI powerhouse.
On the occasion of issuing the plan, the city also published a list of 26 application scenarios involving AI, encouraging greater efforts to marry AI to more real-life use cases, such as handling of citizen requests and medical imaging and diagnostics.
The official document outlines 18 specific measures to be implemented across six dimensions.
They touch upon subjects including computing power, core technologies and innovation, industrial cluster, around-the-clock application, data and talent supply and backup service.
According to Shenzhen authorities, the city will establish a city-level platform to organize and deploy its computing power in a coordinated fashion, so as to achieve the best possible results.
The plan also indicates that Shenzhen, a tech hub home to giants like Huawei and Tencent, will focus on sectors such as general-purpose large language model (LLM), smart chip, intelligent sensor, robotics and connected car.
Among them, LLM unexpectedly ranks at the top of official agenda, as authorities pledge support to build a model on the back of domestic and imported chips and algorithms.
The city also encouraged its LLM developers to work with ecosystem partners, to enable connectivity between a LLM and existing hardware and software.
To meet all these goals, the city has decided upon parlaying government guidance funds to raise some 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) in AI-dedicated investment funds.
As one the first domestic pilots in pushing AI innovations, Shenzhen has passed a raft of regulations and policies over the past few years, in a bid to construct an AI “commanding height.”
For instance, the city’s first set of regulations promoting the AI sector went into force on November 1, 2022, which was also the nation’s first AI-focused bill of its kind.
