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The U.S. has spent years wielding its trading powers to slow China’s advanced chipmaking efforts — but that hasn’t stopped the country from developing its own competitors in the artificial intelligence race.
While some advanced chips and access to many Western-developed AI models are not available in China (due to both U.S. trade restrictions and the Chinese government), some of its top tech companies have been able to develop their own chips and models, including Baidu, whose Ernie Bot is considered China’s version of ChatGPT (which is not available in the country). China also has a budding AI startup scene that reportedly isn’t too shabby according to some AI researchers in the U.S.
Now, OpenAI is reportedly planning to restrict access to its application programming interface, or API — the platform that allows other product developers to build on OpenAI’s tech — to countries including China, which could curb AI developments in the country since many Chinese startups have been able to build on the company’s API. But, it could also be a push for China’s tech companies to step up their AI development efforts.
Check out some of China’s top AI models and startups.