China’s leading tech firms, Alibaba BABA, ByteDance, and Meituan MPNGY MPNGF, are reportedly expanding their AI teams in Silicon Valley.
What Happened: These Chinese tech giants have been growing their California-based offices recently, to attract top U.S. talent to help them gain an edge in the lucrative AI sector, reported Financial Times.
Alibaba is hiring engineers, product managers, and AI researchers for its search engine AI, Accio, as part of its broader push in international commerce.
Meituan is building a team focused on features like AI-powered menu translations. ByteDance continues to develop its Doubao language model and integrate AI into TikTok.
This expansion comes despite a U.S. ban on exports of high-end Nvidia Corporation’s NVDA AI chips, essential for AI model development, to Chinese companies.
There are no restrictions on U.S.-based entities related to or owned by Chinese tech companies accessing high-end AI chips through U.S. data centers.
However, the Department of Commerce proposed a rule in January requiring cloud providers to verify the identity of users training AI models and report their activities, the report noted.
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Why It Matters: The expansion of these Chinese tech giants in Silicon Valley comes amid escalating U.S.-China tensions. Following the re-election of Donald Trump, there were concerns about a potential comprehensive trade conflict between the two nations.
Trump’s proposed 60% tariff on Chinese goods was predicted to impact Chinese companies significantly. Following Trump’s win, several U.S.-listed Chinese stocks, including Alibaba, JD, and Nio, declined.
However, Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed China’s willingness to collaborate with the U.S. government, regardless of the administration in power.
“China is ready to work with the U.S. government to maintain dialogue, expand co-operation and manage differences . . . for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi told President Joe Biden at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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