Kai-Fu Lee on how China is shaping the future of AI

Why it matters

Kai-Fu Lee — 01.AI CEO, Sinovation Ventures founder, former Google China president — covers the real speed of Chinese AI: the gap with the US shrinking from 2-3 years to 6-9 months, why open-source is the 'right strategic bet' for China's AI ecosystem, and 01.AI's tough pivot from chasing super-large models to enterprise applications. Essential for understanding Chinese AI.

Key takeaways

• The US-China AI gap has shrunk from 2-3 years to 6-9 months — Chinese open-source models are catching up faster than expected.
• 'Only big tech can chase super-large models' — 01.AI merged part of its team into Alibaba, admitting startups shouldn't burn money on parameter races.
• China's real AI advantage isn't chips — it's the triad of 'data + scenarios + deployment speed'.
• Open-source is strategically essential for China: under tech restrictions, the open ecosystem is the key channel for global connection and talent flow.
• On AGI: in 5-10 years, at least 1-2 companies each from China and the US will build AGI-level systems.