Veteran researcher and investor Kai-Fu Lee believes that the US is destined to lose its lead in the Artificial Intelligence race
Kai-Fu Lee watched the US beat China to global internet leadership during the dotcom bubble from the inside. Now with what he sees as an even greater technological revolution taking place in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Lee doesn’t expect China to take a backseat a second time. “China started slow, and American companies went international,” Lee says during a May visit to Forbes Media’s headquarters. “But simple math says China has a larger GDP. The market will be bigger.”
When Lee talks about AI, he speaks from first-hand experience. The Taiwan native developed the first speaker-independent phone recognition programme as a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon in the late 1980s, before stints at Apple and as an executive at Microsoft and Google in China—in fact, he was founding president of Google China.
Google and its peers were ultimately thwarted in their ambitions to carve out leadership stakes in the Chinese market, in part due to cultural differences among consumers as well as privacy clashes with the Chinese government. When Lee returned from working at Google’s Mountain View, California, headquarters to launch his own VC fund, Sinovation Ventures, he came back to a China firmly entrenched in what he now describes as a duopolistic global tech economy. US internet software continued to lead the English-speaking world, while a group of Chinese companies, famously led by Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (B-A-T), controlled their domestic market and exerted increasing influence in Southeast Asia and developing markets.
This story is from the July 7, 2017 edition of Forbes India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 7, 2017 edition of Forbes India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Home-Cooked Meal Is Now Greatly Valued
The pandemic has also brought with it an improved focus on hygiene, use of technology in dining, rise of cloud kitchens and resurgence in popularity of Indian ingredients
Paytm 3.0 - Reaching Near Breakeven In Two Years
As of 2020, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s super app for financial services had run up losses in thousands of crores. Now, as digital payments gets yet another boost courtesy Covid-19, he’s hopeful of reaching near breakeven in two years
THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED WOMEN GREATER LABOUR PAIN
Covid-19 has shown that women are more likely to face the brunt of job losses than men, and find fewer opportunities when they want to resume. That apart, several have to deal with increased hours of unpaid work at home and even domestic abuse
LEADERSHIP WILL BE ABOUT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leaders must not only guard their teams first during a crisis, but also deal with stakeholders with respect and dignity. And apart from pursuing business goals, they should remain committed to our planet and the environment
PHILANTHROPY SHOULD BE HUMBLE, BUT NOT MODEST
Apart from building a flexible and resilient framework for the future, philanthropists, civil society and the government must work in tandem so that every rupee is absorbed on the ground
INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE, TECH WILL DISRUPT SECTOR
While clinical research will get a boost, having a skilled workforce and public spending on health care will be challenges in the near term
DIGITALISATION WILL HELP IN VALUE CREATION
As the pandemic brings technology and innovation to the core of business and daily life, the next decade will see about 150 million digital-first families in India
Industry 4.0: Climate Revolution?
Augmenting sustainability alongside digital capabilities is an economic, competitive and global opportunity for India’s businesses, but regulations need to reflect intent
EV Dream Still Miles Away
Electric vehicles have remained a buzzword in India for years. But not much has moved on ground due to high upfront costs, range anxiety and charging infrastructure
Living Waters
A virus has caused us to scramble for oxygen but our chokehold on the environment is slowly strangling the very waters that breathe life into us. The virus is a timely reminder: We are merely consumers, not producers of life’s breath on this planet
