China and the United States aren't the best of friends in the field of AI and the computer industry. Both countries are overlapping one another in technology innovations, as well as machine learning, in what's called the "AI arms race."
But here, Chinese search engine Baidu, Inc. has become the first Chinese company to join an AI ethics group led by top U.S. tech firms. This happened amid wider political clashes over AI competition between China and the United States.
The ethics group called The Partnership on AI (PAI), already has Alphabet's Google, Apple and Facebook and others as members. The organization aims to develop ethical guidelines for AI research, including ensuring researches don't violate international conventions or human rights.
"Baidu’s admission represents the beginning of PAI’s entrance into China. We will continue to add new members in China and around the world as we grow," said PAI in a statement.
China has laid out a roadmap to become the world leader in AI, with plans to invest heavily in the industry. China's roadmap here, is encouraging technology sharing between private, public and military research groups. This bold ambition teased the U.S., which has previously planned to bolster security and cutting-edge technologies, including AI, over fears that China could access technology of strategic military.
Despite the clash, U.S. companies have expanded their market to include mainland China, while Baidu and other tech companies have launched AI research labs in the U.S..
China has even hosted Google, Amazon and Microsoft at its annual AI forum. The three U.S. tech giants have launched AI research labs in China, although tense censorship and data restrictions limit the three companies' reach and involvements.
Baidu in joining the The Partnership on AI, comes as Chinese and U.S. companies are looking to ramp up their cooperation on AI. The partnership should not be affected by the looming political scuffle between the two nations.
While the two nations are in a race for supremacy, Chinese companies are actually in line with the government, and keen to soften this AI race amid trade war. The second, is because tech companies in both nations, don't really see themselves in an arms race at all.
The Partnership on AI was founded by Amazon, Google, Facebook, and others. The nonprofit has more than 70 partners in 10 different countries. The group works to create the best practices on AI technologies and understand how it can impact the society.
As East meets West, Baidu's history in AI has long been tied with the U.S.. The Beijing-based company was the first in China to invest heavily in AI research, but it did that under the guidance of Andrew Ng, a U.S.-based AI expert who taught at Stanford before leading a major AI project at Google, before joining Baidu as chief scientist.
The move by Baidu is showing that China and the U.S. have more in common when it comes to AI than many people think.
With Baidu joining the group, the president of the company, Ya-Qin Zhang, said that:
"The impact of a transformative technology like AI goes beyond borders, so we are looking forward to both sharing our own insights and learning from our international peers."