Finance

China’s AI models lag their U.S. counterparts by 6 to 9 months, says former head of Google China

Published

8 months ago

September 11, 2024

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.

Finance

China’s April retail sales growth of 5.1% misses expectations as consumption remains a worry

Published

45 minutes ago

May 18, 2025

Business Finance News

Citizens are shopping at a supermarket in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu province, on March 9, 2024.

Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

China’s retail sales growth slowed in April, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday, signaling that consumption remains a worry for the world’s second-largest economy.

Retail sales rose 5.1% from a year earlier in April, missing analysts’ estimates of 5.5% growth, according to a Reuters poll. Sales had grown by 5.9% in the previous month.

Industrial output grew 6.1% year on year in April, stronger than analysts’ expectations for a 5.5% rise, while slowing down from the 7.7% jump in March.

Fixed-asset investment for the first four months this year, which includes property and infrastructure investment, expanded 4.0%, slightly lower than analysts’ expectations for a 4.2% growth in a Reuters poll.

The drag from real estate worsened within fixed asset investment, falling 10.3% for the year as of April.

The urban survey-based unemployment rate in April eased to 5.1% from 5.2% in March.

The data came against the backdrop of trade tensions between China and the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump placed tariffs of 145% on imports from China that came into effect in April. Beijing retaliated with tariffs in kind, with 125% levies on American imports.

Trade-war fears have receded after a meeting of U.S. and Chinese trade representatives in Switzerland earlier this month led to a lower set of levies between the world’s two largest economies.

Beijing and Washington agreed to roll back most of the tariffs imposed on each other’s goods for 90 days, allowing some room for further negotiation to reach a more lasting deal.

That prompted a slew of global investment banks to raise their forecasts for China’s economic growth this year while paring back expectations for more proactive stimulus as Beijing strives to reach its growth target of around 5%.

This is breaking news. Please check back later for updates.

Finance

Scott Bessent calls Moody’s a ‘lagging indicator’ after U.S. credit downgrade

Published

12 hours ago

May 18, 2025

Business Finance News

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Moody’s Ratings were a “lagging indicator” after the group downgraded the U.S.’ credit rating by a notch from the highest level.

“I think that Moody’s is a lagging indicator,” Bessent said Sunday. “I think that’s what everyone thinks of credit agencies.”

Moody’s said last week that the downgrade from Aaa to Aa1 “reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.”

The treasury secretary asserted that the downgrade was related to the Biden administration’s spending policies, which that administration had touted as investments in priorities, including combatting climate change and increasing health care coverage.

“Just like Sean Duffy said with our air traffic control system, we didn’t get here in the past 100 days,” Bessent continued, referring to the transportation secretary. “It’s the Biden administration and the spending that we have seen over the past four years.”

The U.S. has $36.22 trillion in national debt, according to the Treasury Department. It began growing steadily in the 1980s and continued increasing during both President Donald Trump’s first term and former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Bessent also told moderator Kristen Welker that he spoke on the phone with the CEO of Walmart, Doug McMillon, who the treasury secretary said told him the retail giant would “eat some of the tariffs, just as they did in ’18, ’19 and ’20.”

Walmart CFO John David Rainey previously told CNBC that Walmart would absorb some higher costs related to tariffs. The CFO had also told CNBC separately that he was “concerned” consumers would “start seeing higher prices,” pointing to tariffs.

Trump said in a post to Truth Social last week that Walmart should “eat the tariffs.” Walmart responded, saying the company has “always worked to keep our prices as low as possible and we won’t stop.”

“We’ll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins,” the statement continued.

When asked about his conversation, Bessent denied he applied any pressure on Walmart to “eat the tariffs,” noting that he and the CEO “have a very good relationship.”

“I just wanted to hear it from him, rather than second-, third-hand from the press,” Bessent said.

McMillon had said on Walmart’s earnings call that tariffs have put pressure on prices. Bessent argued that companies “have to give the worst case scenario” on the calls.

The White House has said that countries are approaching the administration to negotiate over tariffs. The administration has also announced trade agreements with the United Kingdom and China.

Bessent said on Sunday that he thinks countries that do not negotiate in good faith would see duties return to the rates announced the day the administration unveiled across-the-board tariffs.

“The negotiating leverage that President Trump is talking about here is if you don’t want to negotiate, then it will spring back to the April 2 level,” Bessent said.

Bessent was also asked about Trump saying the administration would accept a luxury jet from Qatar to be used as Air Force One, infuriating Democrats and drawing criticism from some Republicans as well.

The treasury secretary called questions about the $400 million gift an “off ramp for many in the media not to acknowledge what an incredible trip this was,” referring to investment commitments the president received during his trip last week to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“If we go back to your initial question on the Moody’s downgrade, who cares? Qatar doesn’t. Saudi doesn’t. UAE doesn’t,” he said. “They’re all pushing money in.”

When asked for his response to those who argue that the jet sends a message that countries can curry favor with the U.S. by sending gifts, Bessent said that “the gifts are to the American people,” pointing to investment agreements that were unveiled during Trump’s Middle East trip.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., criticized Bessent’s comments about the credit downgrade, saying in a separate interview on “Meet the Press.”

“I heard the treasury secretary say that, ‘Who cares about the downgrading of our credit rating from Moody’s?’ That is a big deal,” Murphy said.

“That means that we are likely headed for a recession. That probably means higher interest rates for anybody out there who is trying to start a business or to buy a home,” he continued. “These guys are running the economy recklessly because all they care about is the health of the Mar-a-Lago billionaire class.”