China has just announced a new roadmap for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), setting a target of having more than 70% by 2027 and more than 90% of industrial equipment integrated with AI technology by 2030.
According to the guidelines issued by the State Council, the AI Plus strategy aims to widely apply AI in production, agriculture, healthcare and services. The document emphasizes the promotion of productivity, reshaping the operating methods of industries, and accelerating the formation of a smart economy based on cooperation between humans and machines.
The plan also promotes the development of a series of AI-organized products such as smartphones, computers, robots, household appliances, smart wearables and cars with network connections. At the same time, China will accelerate the application of AI in the fields of low-altitude aviation, brain-computing interfaces, virtual reality and new-generation smart products.
The AI Plus strategy is considered a continuation of the Internet Plus program since 2015, which has helped China quickly become an extensive digital society, exploiting the Internet as the main driver for productivity and innovation.
In the context of increasingly fierce technological competition with the US, China is accelerating efforts to gain an advantage in next-generation technologies.
