Spotlight on AI as future game changer

China fostering own vision of development through reliable, efficient application of artificial intelligence tools across industry sectors

Delegates and visitors to the Zhongguancun Forum, a key technology event held in Beijing recently, were in for a surprise when they arrived at the venue late last month.

As they stepped in, they were greeted not by ushers in uniform, but by a coordinated team of robots that mimicked human expressions, answered queries and translated conversations in real time.

In the shadow of a series of bullying (tariffs) imposed by the Trump administration earlier this month, China is doubling down on what may be its most potent counterstrike: AI. From breakthrough chips to frontier models rivaling the West's best to humanoid robots, China's AI breakthroughs could stand out to be a potential game changer, industry experts said.