Innovation platform for smart tech launched

A major national open innovation platform for artificial intelligence has been unveiled to leverage the collective strength of State-owned enterprises and the broader industrial chain for accelerating the development of the AI sector in China.

Guided by ministries including the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the platform is roughly translated as AI Huanxin and is being spearheaded by telecom operator China Mobile.

Positioned as an open-source platform to serve society, it brings together leading central SOEs, private-sector champions, and innovative research and development institutions.

It offers a comprehensive channel for businesses of all sizes, universities, research bodies, and individual developers to access AI resources, including domestic large language models and chips, China Mobile said.

China Mobile Chairman Yang Jie said the platform delivers full-cycle services to society — spanning computing power scheduling, data processing, model training and deployment, and application development — accelerating the technological and ecosystem maturity of domestic AI chips and foundational models.

A cornerstone offering is its release of 40 strategic high-value AI scenarios drawn from 16 key industries, providing invaluable reference models for industrial AI applications.

The platform delivers six core functionalities through a comprehensive suite of resources. It aggregates substantial computing power, including over 2,000 domestically produced AI accelerator cards contributed by China's three major telecom operators.

For AI development, it hosts an extensive model repository containing 274 open-source models alongside 10 proprietary technology models. Its data resources encompass five types of general datasets — including text, image, video and audio — plus 13 industry-specific datasets covering sectors such as telecommunications, petrochemicals, energy, defense, agriculture and finance, China Mobile said.

The platform has already attracted significant participation from over 90 enterprises, more than 50 universities, and over 20 organizations, including more than 10 central SOEs, China Mobile added.

Concurrently, a key institutional development marked the event with the inauguration of China Mobile Jiutian Artificial Intelligence Technology Co Ltd.

The Jiutian team possesses a distinguished 12-year track record in scaling AI applications within the information and communications technology sector. Facing rapid global AI advancements in 2023, the team achieved a significant breakthrough by developing the Jiutian foundational large model — notable as the first central SOE model to receive dual certification from the Cyberspace Administration of China for both its service offerings and underlying algorithms.

Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Zhongguancun Modern Information Consumer Application Industry Technology Alliance, a telecom industry association, said the scarcity of industry data sets available for application and inefficient supply of computing power are two obstacles for China's AI development.

The platform spearheaded by China Mobile will accelerate the development of the AI sector, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, Xiang added.

Xie Shaofeng, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a news conference earlier this month that China will ramp up efforts to accelerate the application of AI in manufacturing as well as other key industries.

The nation has nurtured and open-sourced AI-powered large language models, with stepped-up adoption across various industries including electronics and consumer goods, Xie said, highlighting that AI mobile phones, AI computers and AI glasses have become new growth points driving economic development.

masi@chinadaily.com.cn