Merging drones, AI to help clean energy hum along: the ultimate integration

"We look at ourselves as a global startup. In addition to China, we are eyeing markets in Southeast Asia, Europe and North America," said George Yan, founder and CEO of Shanghai-based AI startup Clobotics.

The startup now has more than 10 employees in its R&D team in Seattle and is looking for fast development of the team in the next two years.

Clobotics has developed the world's first computer-vision based wind turbine blade inspection service using UAV drones. It takes pictures of wind turbine blade surfaces, and then uses computer vision to inspect the images on the cloud. The system notifies maintenance personnel of damage, deterioration and other early warning signs, which are critical for reducing maintenance costs.