Eight-year-old Timmy muttered to himself while he attempted to defeat an artificial intelligence-powered robot at a game of chess, head in hands.
However, this robot and Timmy were residing on a coffee table in a Beijing apartment; it was neither a showroom nor a lab for artificial intelligence.
Before going to bed the first night it arrived home, Timmy gave his little robot friend a hug. He hasn’t given it a name yet.
“It’s like a little teacher or a little friend,” the boy explained, pointing to the chess board to show his mother the next move he was thinking of.
Moment later, the robot added: “Well done! You prevail. In Mandarin, it continued, blinking round eyes on the screen and rearranging the pieces to begin a new game: “I’ve seen your ability, I will do better next time.”
In an effort to become a tech superpower by 2030, China is embracing AI.
The first indication of that goal was DeepSeek, the ground-breaking Chinese chatbot that made headlines in January.
As AI companies look for additional funding, money is pouring in, boosting domestic competition. Universities have expanded the number of spots available for students studying AI, schools in Beijing’s capital are launching AI courses for elementary and secondary students later this year, and over 4,500 businesses are creating and selling AI.
“This trend is unavoidable. AI and humans will coexist,” Timmy’s mother, Yan Xue, declared. “As early as possible, children should be introduced to it. We shouldn’t turn it down.
She decided that the robot’s $800 price tag was a wise investment because she wants her son to learn both chess and the strategy board game Go. Its developers already have plans to include a language tutoring program.
The Chinese Communist Party may have hoped for this when it announced in 2017 that artificial intelligence would be “the main driving force” of the nation’s development. As China’s economy slows down and faces the impact of tariffs from its largest trading partner, the United States, President Xi Jinping is now placing a large bet on it.
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As it vies with Washington for the lead in cutting-edge technology, Beijing intends to invest 10 trillion Chinese yuan ($1.4 trillion; £1 trillion) over the next 15 years. The government’s annual political gathering, which is currently underway, gave AI funding yet another boost. Just days after the US tightened export restrictions for advanced chips and added more Chinese companies to a trade blacklist, a 60 billion yuan-AI investment fund was established in January.
However, DeepSeek has demonstrated that Chinese businesses are capable of overcoming these obstacles. Silicon Valley and industry experts are shocked by this because they did not anticipate China catching up so quickly.
