Guangdong headhunter updates:At a recent economic work conference, the focus of the economic work for 2024 has been outlined. Among the nine key tasks, “leading the modernization of industrial systems through technological innovation” has been prioritized as the foremost task. With the rise of disruptive technologies, future industries, and artificial intelligence, how can Guangdong seize opportunities, address challenges, and take the initiative? As new opportunities and trends continue to emerge, shortly after the release of the “22 Measures for Developing the General Artificial Intelligence Industry,” Guangdong swiftly introduced a New Year plan to “accelerate the cultivation of emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and vigorously develop new productive forces.”
On November 13 last year, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province issued the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of an Innovation Leading Area for the General Artificial Intelligence Industry” (referred to as the “Implementation Opinions”). It proposed 22 specific measures, including building a general AI computing power ecosystem and strengthening breakthroughs in key technologies for large models. In the recently concluded Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Provincial Economic Work Conference, “accelerating the cultivation of emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and vigorously developing new productive forces” was once again established as a key focus of economic work for 2024.
Guangdong has taken the lead in building new productive forces, leveraging its advantages with numerous national platforms, core enterprises, and international talent. The development of artificial intelligence is being steadily advanced with a “three-step” strategy.
China’s Core AI Industry Reaches a Scale of 500 Billion Yuan
Driven by policies, China’s AI industry has rapidly materialized, triggering profound changes in various application fields and providing strong support for the transformation of old and new growth drivers and the high-quality development of the national economy. According to the latest data, the scale of China’s core AI industry has reached 500 billion yuan, with more than 4,400 companies. The deployment of AI infrastructure has accelerated, with computing power ranking second globally. Major projects like “Eastern Data, Western Computing” are progressing rapidly, with over 3.2 million 5G base stations and at least 30 cities investing in smart computing centers. The deep integration of AI with manufacturing has resulted in over 2,500 digital workshops and smart factories nationwide, significantly improving R&D and production efficiency.
Simultaneously, a surge in innovative applications has emerged. According to incomplete statistics, as of October 2023, 238 large models have been developed domestically. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, in 2022, Chinese enterprises and institutions filed nearly 30,000 AI-related patents, accounting for over 40% of global AI patent applications.
Guangdong Leads in Computing Power Deployment
As the leading province in the digital economy, Guangdong has comprehensively promoted the construction of a strong digital economy in recent years. In terms of AI development, Guangdong has its own “three-step” strategy. Since 2018, Guangdong has successively introduced the “Guangdong Province New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan” and the “Guangdong Province New Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation Development Action Plan (2022–2025),” setting three phased goals for 2020, 2025, and 2030.
According to the “Implementation Opinions,” Guangdong aims to achieve the nation’s largest and globally leading intelligent computing power scale by 2025, with a core industry scale exceeding 300 billion yuan and more than 2,000 companies. To achieve this, Guangdong has introduced 22 policy measures to achieve significant breakthroughs in computing power, algorithms, data, industry, and ecosystem.
Guangdong’s computing power level ranks among the top in the country. Currently, Guangdong boasts major computing power facilities such as the Pengcheng Laboratory, Shaoguan Data Center Cluster, Hengqin Advanced Intelligent Computing Platform, and Guangzhou-Shenzhen Supercomputing Center. Among the national new-generation AI public computing power open innovation platforms approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Intelligent Science and Technology and the Guangzhou AI Public Computing Power Center are on the list. Additionally, Guangdong is actively promoting infrastructure projects such as the AIGC Innovation Fund, Pazhou Calculation Valley, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Computing Power Center, Greater Bay Area Integrated Data Center, and the Quantum Research Institute.
Rapid Development of Guangdong’s AI Industry
Since the first disclosure of its AI industry’s “family assets” in 2018, Guangdong’s core AI industry scale has grown from approximately 26 billion yuan in 2017 to 150 billion yuan in 2022, nearly a fivefold increase. In just a few years, Guangdong has established 11 provincial AI industrial parks, such as the Guangzhou Nansha International AI Value Innovation Park and the Shenzhen Bay Science and Technology Eco-Park. By 2022, there were about 170,000 registered AI-related enterprises in Guangdong, with over 900 core enterprises, including prominent new AI companies such as iFlytek, GRG Banking, Pony.ai, Altotech, Aofei Data, XAG, CloudWalk, Tongdun Technology, and Heterogeneous Intelligent.
The industrialization of AI and the AI-ization of industries are advancing simultaneously. Guangdong’s strong manufacturing industry cluster and large-scale service market provide ample space for the application of general AI. Scenarios such as intelligent manufacturing, medical imaging, unmanned stores, intelligent customer service, smart logistics, smart agriculture and forestry, unmanned inspection, and smart education have all become “training grounds” for AI.
Talent Is the Key to AI Development
In the competition for AI, “those who win talent win models, and those who win models win the world” has become a consensus. Currently, Guangdong has attracted nearly 50 innovative teams in the AI field through major provincial and municipal talent programs and has established 14 doctoral programs and 34 master’s programs in AI-related fields. Universities, laboratories, and enterprises in Guangdong have all become incubators for talent.
Challenges to Becoming a Global Hub for Technology and Industry Innovation
At the press conference for the “Implementation Opinions,” Wang Yueqin, Director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, pointed out that Guangdong has five advantages in developing general AI: a solid industrial foundation, improved enterprise quality and quantity, leading platform computing power, a concentration of innovative talent, and coordinated collaboration within the Greater Bay Area.
However, to become a globally influential hub for technology and industry innovation, Guangdong still faces many challenges. Experts in the AI field have highlighted that computing power applications, data security, and talent development remain key issues.
Jiang Wenhao, a researcher at the Guangming Laboratory and head of the generative large model team, stated that Guangdong still needs to make efforts in building a self-controllable computing power ecosystem and establishing data security and privacy protection mechanisms to support model training and optimization. Zhang Min, an engineer at the Guangdong Telecom Planning and Design Institute Co., Ltd., also pointed out that high power consumption density brought by high computing power density, data quality and security, the improvement of the computing power industry ecosystem, and the effective implementation of applications are all challenges in the era of intelligent computing.
Overall, Guangdong, as a major province in the digital economy, has set a firm goal on the path of AI development. Although the road ahead is long, with the concerted efforts of the entire province, the future is promising.
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