Xi Jinping offers AI support to developing countries

In short: China’s leader Xi Jinping said China will share AI tools more widely with developing countries and help train people to use them.

What happened

Xi Jinping spoke at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai and laid out a plan to work more closely with what China calls the “global south”, meaning developing countries.

He said Chinese companies will make AI available through “open-source models” (AI systems whose underlying code is shared publicly, like a recipe anyone can read and cook from). China also said it will help train thousands of people from developing countries through new international “application co-operation centres”, which are meant to teach practical ways to use AI.

Xi also announced a new group called the World AI Cooperation Organisation. The Financial Times reported it will have 29 members. The broader aim, according to analysts cited by the FT, is for China to take a bigger role in how AI is adopted around the world and in the rules and standards that guide it.

One analyst, George Chen of the Asia Group, said many popular US “closed” AI models (tools you can use, but cannot see inside or change) can be too expensive for consumers in developing countries. He said China’s approach could look like a realistic alternative, especially for countries that do not have the resources to build their own AI systems.

Why it matters

If more countries build services on top of China-backed AI, they may also adopt China’s preferred ways of managing data, security, and speech online. For everyday people, this could affect which AI tools show up in schools, hospitals, and government offices, and what those tools can and cannot do.

Source: Financial Times