Finance
China’s AI models lag their U.S. counterparts by 6 to 9 months, says former head of Google China
Kai-Fu Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of Sinovation Ventures, speaks during the HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit on September 11, 2021 in Beijing, China.
China News Service | China News Service | Getty Images
BEIJING — Chinese artificial intelligence models may be at least half a year behind those developed in the U.S., but Chinese AI apps will likely take off much faster, said Kai-Fu Lee, former head of Google China.
He was referring to large language models, which are trained on massive amounts of data that can process and produce text, images and videos.
The top Chinese companies’ LLMs are about six to nine months behind their U.S. counterparts, while less advanced Chinese models may lag the U.S. by about 15 months, Lee said. He was speaking at the AVCJ Private Equity Forum China on Wednesday.
Lee, author of “AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order,“ is a widely followed commentator on AI, and is the founder of startup 01.AI as well as venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures.
“Apps, I would predict, by early next year will proliferate in China much faster than in the U.S.,” Lee said, noting that the cost of training a good AI model has fallen significantly.
“It’s inevitable that China will [build] the best AI apps in the world,” he said. “But it’s not clear whether it will be built by big companies or small companies.”
Lee, whose startup is focused on search apps right how, said it may take five to eight years to take generative AI consumer applications to the next level — a single “super app” that can perform multiple tasks.
The industry will likely need completely new devices versus existing smartphones, he said, adding “the right device ought to be always on, always listening.”
Major Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Tencent have released their AI models and business products. These companies and investors have also backed several AI startups.
Beijing-based ShengShu Technology, backed by Alibaba-affiliate Ant Group, announced Wednesday that its text-to-video model Vidu has introduced a new feature for improving how a main element or character in AI-generated clips can be portrayed consistently, without distortion. That can enable advertisers to create promotional videos for their products.
Vidu was released earlier this year and its basic tools are open to the public, with more advanced capabilities available via subscription. Co-founder and CEO Jiayu Tang told reporters Wednesday that several companies were interested in buying ShengShu’s services, and were not just exploring the tech.
Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21st, 2025.
Gerry Miller | CNBC
Anthropic is in talks to raise a $3.5 billion funding round, significantly more than the amount previously expected, CNBC has confirmed.
The round would roughly triple the artificial intelligence startup’s valuation to $61.5 billion, according to two sources familiar with the deal, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. Lightspeed Ventures is leading the funding, with participation from General Catalyst and others, the sources said.
The financing, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, signals continued investor demand for top-tier AI companies, even in the face of potential disruption from China’s DeepSeek. Anthropic is backed by Amazon and Google, and had initially set out to raise $2 billion, according to a source.
Anthropic declined to comment.
The company’s last private market valuation was $18 billion. Amazon has poured $8 billion into the startup.
Anthropic was founded by early OpenAI employees and is the creator of the popular chatbot Claude. Earlier Monday, Anthropic released what it says is it’s “most intelligent AI model yet. Its so-called hybrid model combines an ability to reason — or stopping to think about complex answers — with a traditional model that spits out answers in real time.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Monday said the U.S. government is inefficient and in need of work as the Trump administration terminates thousands of federal employees and works to dismantle agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Dimon was asked by CNBC’s Leslie Picker whether he supported efforts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. He declined to give what he called a “binary” response, but made comments that supported the overall effort.
“The government is inefficient, not very competent, and needs a lot of work,” Dimon told Picker. “It’s not just waste and fraud, its outcomes.”
The Trump administration’s effort to rein in spending and scrutinize federal agencies “needs to be done,” Dimon added.
“Why are we spending the money on these things? Are we getting what we deserve? What should we change?” Dimon said. “It’s not just about the deficit, its about building the right policies and procedures and the government we deserve.”
Dimon said if DOGE overreaches with its cost-cutting efforts or engages in activity that’s not legal, “the courts will stop it.”
“I’m hoping it’s quite successful,” he said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Dimon also addressed his company’s push to have most workers in office five days a week, as well as his views on the Ukraine conflict, tariffs and the U.S. consumer.
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