China’s artificial intelligence device market is already booming, and the country’s hardware expertise could give it an advantage in the race for cutting-edge technology with the United States.
Dr. Kai-Fu Li, CEO of 01.AI and chairman of Sinovation Ventures, told CNBC, “This advantage comes from the fundamental roots of China being a manufacturing country.” “Today, the competition is on software, models, agents, and applications. But soon the competition will move to devices.”
meta has sold millions of smart glasses since introducing the spec in 2023, and the Chinese are catching up, with more than 70 Chinese companies developing competing products in the space.
Eyewear from companies like Inmo and Rokid is sold all over the world. xiaomi and alibabais only found in China and includes the tech giant’s proprietary AI.
This year, Alibaba’s workplace messaging platform DingTalk released a credit card-sized AI gizmo aimed at taking notes at work.
DingTalk A1 can record, transcribe, summarize, and analyze audio from up to 8 meters (26 feet) away, the length of a large conference room.
This device is similar to the Plaud Note sold in the United States.
Experimentation with devices in China ranges from the practical to the unconventional.
Chinese startup Le Le Gaoshang Education Technology has released its Native Language Star brand of translation gadgets aimed at helping Chinese parents with limited English to teach their children English.
The device wraps around the back of the user’s neck like a travel neck pillow and lowers towards the chest. There is a kind of muzzle unit above the mouth that mutes the user’s own voice.
The unit incorporates Tencent and iFlyTek AI and is being touted as a way to turn English-speaking Chinese parents into “laowai,” or foreigners. Retail price is $420.
Having so many hardware touchpoints helps with technology adoption and people’s familiarity with the technology. Analysts say the ability for companies to collect more data than in other countries will also help.
“You still hear people outside China talking about the future of AI devices, but the market here is already full of AI devices,” Tom Van Dielen, a technology consultant at Greenkern, said in his Beijing office. “This creates this feedback loop again and makes the AI even better.”
However, hardware superiority is far from a guarantee of winning the AI race. Especially if China’s AI is unattractive to global customers due to privacy and other issues, or if it lags far behind competitors such as the United States.
“It really has to become Apple’s iPhone to reap its full benefits,” Lee warned, citing the invention of the late entrepreneur Steve Jobs, which is considered one of the most innovative consumer products of all time. “I think China’s advantage in developing the Apple iPhone for the AI era is that they have the capabilities of engineers and entrepreneurs. But there will still be competition.”
