According to Lawrence Cheung Chi-chong, Chief Technology Officer at the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), these divides are stifling innovation.
“We are artificially creating a barrier between the US and mainland China, and that will stifle the development of technology,” Cheung said at an HKPC-organized AI conference.
He emphasized the challenges faced by scientists in collaborating across geopolitical lines.
“From a scientist’s point of view, it has been difficult over the past few years, particularly in the AI area,” he told the South China Morning Post, adding that Western counterparts often face restrictions on cooperation with Chinese and Hong Kong-based researchers.
Hong Kong’s position has become more precarious since Washington’s August 2023 restrictions on US investments in Chinese firms, including those in AI and semiconductors. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has criticized these measures, highlighting the economic benefits the US has gained from Hong Kong trade. He warned that such policies could backfire on US businesses.
The US-China tech rivalry has already led to measures like Nvidia’s ban from selling advanced AI chips to China and OpenAI’s blocking of its services in Hong Kong and mainland China. In response, Hong Kong is leveraging its strategic location as a launchpad for international AI firms entering China and for Chinese companies seeking global expansion.
HKPC is also driving local AI innovation. The council is developing Industrial GPT, an AI model tailored for small- to medium-sized manufacturers, integrating industrial data for practical applications. This project, expected within two years, will be supported by the AI Supercomputing Centre at Cyberport. Cheung noted the use of both Chinese and Western computing solutions, though geopolitical developments may influence this approach.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics has advanced medical AI models using Huawei’s Ascend processors, circumventing Nvidia’s high-end chip restrictions.
