Artificial Intelligence is at the forefront of transforming industries across the Chinese mainland, according to the latest China Internet Development Report 2024 released by the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies. Unveiled at the World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit, the report showcases significant advancements in AI-driven digitalization.
With nearly 10,000 digitalized workshops and smart factories nationwide, the Chinese mainland is rapidly embracing technology. Out of these, 421 have been designated as national-level smart manufacturing demonstration factories, with 90% leveraging AI and digital twins to optimize operations.
The report highlights a remarkable surge in AI innovation, noting that by the end of 2023, there were 378,000 valid AI invention patents in the Chinese mainland—an impressive 40% year-on-year growth and 1.4 times the global average.
From 2014 to 2023, the Chinese mainland filed over 38,000 generative AI patent applications, securing the top spot globally. The landscape of generative AI is booming, with more than 100 large-scale models boasting over 1 billion parameters as of March 2024. These advancements are revolutionizing sectors like electronics, healthcare, and transportation, driving the digital transformation of traditional industries.
Leading the charge, Alibaba Group is making significant strides by open-sourcing its proprietary language model, Qwen. With over 100 open-source models and more than 40 million downloads, Qwen is fostering a collaborative environment for AI development. Additionally, Alibaba's AI open model community, ModelScope, has engaged over 8 million developers, accelerating AI adoption across diverse sectors.
Similarly, Baidu has advanced its AI capabilities with the ERNIE Agent, which has attracted over 800,000 developers and 150,000 enterprises. A standout example is the collaboration with Academician Zhu Youyong from the Chinese Academy of Engineering to develop the 'Farmer Academician Agent'. This tool provides real-time assistance to farmers on planting techniques and pest control, showcasing AI’s practical applications in agriculture.
The market for large-model platforms and related applications in the Chinese mainland reached 1.77 billion yuan (approximately 243.8 million USD) in 2023, according to International Data Corporation. The positive outlook for AI-driven industries has spurred significant investments, with the industrial sector producing 51 prominent machine learning models in 2023 alone, compared to 15 by academia. This trend indicates a talent shift towards industry, driven by better access to funding, data, and computational resources.
The WIC has been a staple event for eight consecutive years, fostering dialogue and collaboration in building a people-centered and AI-for-good digital future. The summit, themed \"Embracing a people-centered and AI-for-good digital future—building a community with a shared future in cyberspace,\" kicked off on Wednesday and will conclude on Friday in the historic town of Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province.
