The major Chinese artificial intelligence companies announced the establishment of two new industrial alliances, aimed at building a comprehensive national system for artificial intelligence technologies and reducing reliance on foreign technology, amidst ongoing U.S. restrictions on advanced Nvidia chips.
The announcement came during the Global Artificial Intelligence Conference held in Shanghai over three days, concluding on Monday, with wide local and global interest in new Chinese technological initiatives.
One of the most prominent alliances, the "Chip Models Innovation Alliance," includes a group of local large language model developers alongside major artificial intelligence chip manufacturers, including Huawei, Bairun, and MoreThreads, all of which have been affected by U.S. sanctions limiting their ability to import advanced technology of U.S. origin.
The second alliance, established by the Artificial Intelligence Committee of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, aims to deepen the integration between artificial intelligence technologies and industrial transformation. Its membership includes prominent companies such as SenseTime, which is under sanctions, alongside MiniMax, Metax, and Ilovatar CoreX, in addition to StepFun, a company specializing in developing artificial intelligence software technologies.
The conference also witnessed the announcement of several innovations aimed at daily use, most notably the Quark AI glasses revealed by Alibaba Group, which are based on the Qwen AI model and are expected to launch in the Chinese market by the end of 2025. These smart glasses will enable users to utilize maps and navigation and make payments through Alipay using only voice commands.
These rapid moves highlight China's determination to develop its domestic capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence, in the face of geopolitical and technological challenges imposed from abroad.
