At the recently concluded World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2024, significant insights and forecasts for the AI industry were revealed. Among the highlights was the substantial growth in China’s AI sector, with total funding reaching 3776.2 billion RMB (about US$521 billion). The conference underscored China’s pivotal role in the global AI landscape, featuring prominent predictions from industry leaders about the future of AI.
Key Developments in China’s AI Industry
According to the “2024 World Artificial Intelligence Legal Blue Book” released at the conference, China’s core AI industry reached a scale of 578.4 billion RMB in 2023, a year-on-year growth of 13.9% according to TMT Post.
Despite a decrease in the number of investment and financing events by 18.2% compared to 2022, the total financing amount surged by 51%, totaling 263.1 billion RMB.
China’s AI industry has seen a significant number of investments, primarily from industrial investors such as Qiming Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Shunwei Capital, Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu.
As of December 14, 2023, the Chinese AI industry recorded 10,110 investment events with a total financing amount of 377.62 billion RMB. The primary investment areas include enterprise services, advanced manufacturing, and automotive transportation.
Global AI Landscape
Globally, there are approximately 30,000 AI enterprises, with the US accounting for 34% and China 15%, totaling over 4,500 companies in China. The period from 2023 to the first quarter of 2024 saw 234 AI unicorns globally, with the US hosting 120 and China 71.
The report indicates that there are currently 1,328 AI large models worldwide, with the US leading at 44% and China at 36%. This positions China as a significant player in the AI domain, with a robust development trajectory.
Expert Insights and Predictions
At the WAIC 2024, several experts provided their insights into the future of AI.
Tao Mei, a foreign academician of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and founder and CEO of Zhixiang Future, emphasized the rapid growth of the AI industry.
Mei predicted that generative AI would contribute to a 14% increase in global GDP, with 74% of the world’s economic output being impacted by AI technology. He also forecasted that 26% of China’s GDP growth would be related to generative AI.
Mei likened generative AI to fundamental infrastructure like water and electricity, suggesting that it will revolutionize human-computer interaction and various sectors, including AIGC and the metaverse.
The Emergence of AI Super Apps
Li Xuexia, co-founder and CEO of Wu Wenxin, described AI large models as “super models” and AI-native applications as “super apps.”
The discussion at the conference highlighted the growing anticipation for AI super apps akin to WeChat, TikTok, and Toutiao. However, industry leaders urged patience, noting that the development of such applications involves multiple factors beyond just technological advancements.
Zhang Peng, CEO of Zhipu AI, emphasized the importance of taking action rather than merely anticipating the arrival of super apps. He pointed out that the maturity of technology, market readiness, and demand discovery are all crucial elements in the emergence of these applications.
Jun Jie, founder and CEO of MiniMax, projected that it would take at least three years for AI super apps to become mainstream, underscoring the need for a step-by-step approach to achieving this goal.
The Future of Generative AI
Zhou Zhifeng, managing partner at Qiming Venture Partners, shared his expectations for the future of generative AI at the forum. He predicted that within three years, AI video generation technology would see widespread adoption, transforming industries such as film, animation, and short videos.
Other key forecasts included:
- The gradual fusion of GPT and diffusion models, unlocking new capabilities.
- Significant improvements in high-quality data acquisition and organization, with synthetic data playing a larger role in pre-training.
- Advances in multi-agent technology enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of generative AI.
- The emergence of unified continuous representation of images and text, leading to more powerful multi-modal models.
- A five-fold increase in the compression rate of image and video latent space representation, accelerating generation speed.
- The rise of super multi-modal large models incorporating diverse modalities like text, images, voice, music, 3D, and sensor data.
- A reduction in the cost of commanding machines to complete complex tasks, driven by AI’s ability to bridge human and machine languages.
- Significant growth in edge-side inference, propelled by advances in inference optimization algorithms, edge-side inference chips, and large models.
Zhou concluded by emphasizing the transformative potential of AI in various industries, advocating for patience as the world anticipates the advent of AI super apps.
Conclusion
China’s AI industry is on a trajectory of significant growth and innovation. With substantial funding and strategic investments, the sector is poised to make transformative impacts across various fields.
As experts predict the emergence of AI super apps and advancements in generative AI, the global AI landscape will continue to evolve, driven by technological breakthroughs and strategic foresight. The future of AI promises to be a dynamic and integral part of economic and technological development.