Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba and iFlyTek: China's National AI Team

China is reportedly putting together a “National Team” to research and develop artificial intelligence. The team is set to include China’s three main tech giants: Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba, as well as voice intelligence specialist iFlyTek.

The companies will be “national champions in AI,” according to China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, and each will have a specialism they will help develop to advance AI in the country. Together, they will aim to develop “next generation AI technologies.”

The ministry has said the companies will use their various strength to “open innovation platforms” in four different fields.

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Baidu, China’s leading internet company and a world leader in AI, will work to develop autonomous driving.

Alibaba’s cloud computing sector will work on ‘city brains,’ a project which will use AI solutions to improve urban life. This will include ‘smart transport.’

Tencent Holdings, which owns China’s popular social platforms, will develop a computer vision for medical devices.

iFlyTek will specialise in its main area of expertise, voice intelligence.

This comes after Xi Jinping’s speech at the 40th Communist Party Congress earlier this year which outlined plans for advancing technology across internet, big data and AI.

In July, the Communist Party released a plan to make the country a global leader in technology by 2030.