Nation takes big strides in funding AI firms

China is gradually shaping up to be a global leader in the field of artificial intelligence, as it has for the first time surpassed the United States in equity funding to AI startups, according to a recent report.

The report, released by US-based venture capital database CB Insights, said that AI startups worldwide raised more than $15.2 billion in 2017, up 141 percent from 2016. China's AI startups accounted for nearly 50 percent of the global funding, up from 11.3 percent of the total in 2016. The US was ranked second with 38 percent.

According to the report, China has also overtaken the US in AI-related patent publications. Chinese patent publications with the keywords of artificial intelligence in the title and abstract increased from 328 in 2016 to 641 in 2017, compared to 108 and 130 for the US, respectively.