China’s largest city, Shanghai, has unveiled a new action plan that targets global domination in embodied artificial intelligence (AI) within the next two years.
Published by the Shanghai Municipal Government, the new plan targets at least 20 breakthroughs in core technologies and algorithms within embodied AI by 2027 in China’s latest push to dominate the rapidly growing industry.
Embodied AI refers to artificial intelligence that’s been integrated into a physical entity, typically robots. It enables them to engage with their environment similarly to humans and extends our interaction with AI beyond the keyboard.
Shanghai’s ambitious action plan further targets four tech incubators by 2027, and for the city to deploy at least 100 innovative applications. The plan wants to push embodied AI to $7 billion in two years; the city’s overall AI sector was estimated to be worth 400 billion yuan ($55 billion) at the end of last year.
For Shanghai, the transition into embodied AI will be a natural fit as the city is China’s robotics hub; it accounts for over one-third of the country’s total robot industrial base. Under the new plan, the city will promote the expansion of this base and invest in research and development in next-generation processors amid the ongoing chip wars between China and the United States.
Shanghai’s action plan aligns with a similar three-year plan by authorities in Pudong, the city’s financial district. Pudong is home to over 100 robotics companies across software and hardware development.
“With Shanghai’s policy support, Pudong will accelerate the clustering of top enterprises, strengthen industry supply chains, and promote integrated development led by leading manufacturers,” commented Jiang Lei, the chief scientist at one of the robotics firms.
Shanghai joins other major Chinese cities that are aggressively investing in the integration of AI and robotics. The capital, Beijing, wants to grow its embodied AI cluster into a 100-billion-yuan ($14 billion) juggernaut, while the tech capital of Shenzhen intends to nurture at least 10 companies valued at more than $1.4 billion.
While the inter-city rivalry heats up, the national government has set its sights on global AI domination. Just two weeks ago, China unveiled its Global AI Governance Action Plan, three days after the U.S. government published a similar roadmap.
Unveiled at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, China’s plan focuses on concerted global efforts as the solution to the fragmented national regulatory frameworks.
“We should strengthen coordination to form a global AI governance framework that has broad consensus as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Li Qiang stated at the event.
Globally, regulators are scrambling to oversee a sector that’s projected to be worth $800 billion by 2030—$3.7 trillion four years later—and contribute $16 trillion to the global economy.
AI companies have fought back against sweeping regulations, arguing they will stifle innovation, and some lawmakers are heeding the industry’s call. In U.S. President Donald Trump’s original ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ there was a proposal for state governments to be blocked from enacting any AI laws for at least the next ten years, but the Senate voted against it.
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Source: https://coingeek.com/shanghai-sets-20-embodied-ai-goals-in-new-2027-roadmap/