Microsoft CEO Brad Smith participates in a gathering at The Westin Palace Hotel, on 20 May, 2022 in Madrid, Spain.
Cezaro De Luca | Europa Press | Getty Images
Microsoft President Brad Smith met with China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao on Wednesday to debate matters starting from synthetic intelligence to commerce relations between Washington and Beijing, based on a Youdao-translated Chinese authorities announcement.
The assembly underscores China’s try to point out it stays favorable to American companies amid continued tensions with the U.S., because it appears to reinvigorate its economic system.
Notably, Smith and Wang’s engagement comes after U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met final month — a gesture that commentators mentioned confirmed China and the U.S. are attempting to co-operate in areas with potential. It additionally signalled a want to enhance the atmosphere for overseas companies.
During the assembly, Wang mentioned that China is dedicated to offering higher companies for overseas enterprises, based on an announcement from the nation’s commerce ministry. The readout mentioned that the Ministry of Commerce hopes Microsoft will play a “constructive role” in co-operation on synthetic intelligence between China and the U.S.
Microsoft is seen as one of many main gamers in synthetic intelligence, significantly after its reportedly multibillion greenback funding in ChatGPT developer OpenAI earlier this 12 months.
China’s personal expertise giants — from Alibaba to Baidu and Tencent — have additionally been launching their very own AI fashions and rival merchandise.
Technology has been a degree of competition between the U.S. and China over the previous few years. Washington has sought to limit China’s entry to key applied sciences akin to semiconductors, and U.S. export curbs not too long ago focused chips from Nvidia, that are used to coach synthetic intelligence fashions.
During the Biden and Xi assembly, the 2 leaders “affirmed the need to address the risks of advanced AI systems and improve AI safety through U.S.-China government talks,” based on a White House readout.
Smith and Wang’s assembly seems to have mirrored that.
Meetings between U.S. expertise companies and the Chinese authorities have change into more and more uncommon in recent times, as Washington-Beijing tensions ramped up. In addition, there are only a few U.S. tech companies working in China, with the likes of Google mum or dad Alphabet and Meta’s companies blocked on the planet’s second-largest economic system.
However, this 12 months, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited China, which is the corporate’s third-largest market. Tesla CEO Elon Musk additionally made a visit to China, the place the electrical carmaker has one in every of its greatest factories. This has partly coincided with simpler journey to China after the extreme Covid-19 restrictions that have been lifted in 2022, in addition to Beijing’s want to woo overseas companies.
Smith mentioned that Microsoft is keen to “actively participate in the digital transformation of China’s economy” and stays dedicated to selling financial and commerce cooperation between China and the U.S., based on the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Microsoft was not instantly obtainable for remark concerning the assembly when contacted by CNBC.
Source: www.cnbc.com”