Intel to tap into AI opportunities in China

The United States tech giant Intel Corp is ratcheting up resources to tap into artificial intelligence opportunities in China with a string of new products and cross-industry cooperation. 

Yang Xu, president of Intel China, said promoting the development of AI is a brand-new marathon, which demands deepening collaboration within and among well-established ecosystems. 

According to Xu, the company will step up the push to explore the opportunities in China's AI market, which is expected to be worth about $9 billion in 2022 from $900 million in 2017. 

Yang said the company will continuously advance technological advancements of AI and set up open collaboration with ecosystems and tech communities, as well as drive forward the application of AI to meet real-life challenges. 

One of the priorities in China is to launch an AI future pioneer program, which will strengthen its ties with local universities to expand joint efforts on frontier research, talent training, the promotion of cooperation between schools and industrial partners, as well as other areas, he added. 

Currently, Intel is partnering with Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and others. In the future, more educational institutions will be on board, with joint research in areas such as AI architecture, algorithms, big data and high-performance computing, Intel said in a statement. 

At an AI developer conference in Beijing earlier this month, Intel also announced the Neural Compute Stick 2, a product designed to build smarter AI algorithms and for prototyping computer vision at the network edge. With a laptop and the NCS 2, developers can have their AI and computer vision applications up and running in minutes, said Jonathan Ballon, vice-president in the Internet of Things Group at Intel, said.