Shanghai forms alliance for AI advantage

Shanghai has formed an artificial intelligence industrial alliance dedicated to "resources matchmaking" as the city gears up to become a global leader in pioneering the latest AI practices.

Formed at the end of April, the 22-member bloc summons leading AI enterprises from both domestic internet giants including Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, and international powerhouses from Microsoft Asia Research Center (Shanghai) to ABB, a Swiss industrial conglomerate specializing in robotics and automation technology.

Once up and running, the alliance is designed to provide resources matchmaking for participating enterprises, an essential step to fostering AI's development given the rich application scenarios available in the city, said Zhang Hongtao, who oversees the AI unit at the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization.