Tencent’s Chief AI Scientist Yao Xunyu (right) talks about technology prospects with Tencent
CNBC | Evelyn Chen
BEIJING — Former OpenAI researcher is now China’s chief AI scientist tencent We want to build artificial general intelligence in China.
It is a sign of changes in the high-tech competition between the US and China.
Superhuman-level AI (AGI) has long been a goal of US companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Alphabet, which acquired British startup DeepMind.
Rushing to catch up on AI and facing U.S. chip regulations, Chinese companies are instead focusing on how to use the technology in applications from factories to consumer electronics. Baidu CEO Robin Li previously predicted that it would take until at least 2034 to achieve AGI, in contrast to Elon Musk’s 2026 prediction at the time.
But as Chinese companies acquire talent from Silicon Valley, they are increasingly bringing an American vision with them.
“My personal goal is to establish a long-term AGI organization in China,” said Yao Xunyu, Tencent’s chief AI scientist who left his position at OpenAI to join the company last year, in comments translated from Mandarin by CNBC.
Yao was on stage Friday with Tencent cloud executive Dawson Tong to discuss the next steps in AI development at a Tencent event in Beijing co-hosted by local authorities. Chinese government officials gave opening remarks.
Yao said Friday that his vision for AGI will require foundational knowledge, products and exploration of frontiers.
“I don’t think ChatGPT or Claude will be the only super apps,” Yao said, adding that the untapped potential is “trillions of dollars.” He said the performance of AI tools is most important, followed by cost, adding that the way forward in China is smaller AI models and more consistent performance on basic tasks.
His optimism contrasted with growing wariness about AI in the US
Anthropic warned Thursday that the Frontier model is nearing the point where it can improve itself without human oversight. The company called for a slowdown in the industry and a moratorium on new model development to prevent disruption to society.
Earlier this year, the San Francisco-based startup asked the U.S. government to maintain America’s lead over Chinese models. Anthropic has emphasized the safety of its AI since its inception, drawing criticism from rivals that its safety warnings are designed to stifle competition.
