YITU Technology, one of China’s leaders in AI space launched their first international office in Singapore on Tuesday, 23rd January 2018.
When asked why Singapore and not traditional research areas like the US or UK, Lin Chenxi, co-Founder of YITU responded: “We see immense potential in Singapore as a market for AI development and innovation, and a springboard to introduce our cutting-edge solutions to the region.” Furthermore, with YITU’s three-pronged product offerings into the security, healthcare and fintech sectors, Singapore is poised to be an ideal testbed for the region.
YITU is expected to commit heavily to AI in Southeast Asia, with plans to open an R&D center in Singapore by the end of the year, and recruitment of about 50-60 AI researchers. This might prove to be a challenge given the still-nascent AI research in Southeast Asia, as well as tighter regulatory laws in the island state. However, YITU has secured the support of the government that promises to ‘be a future Suzhou’ to YITU.
In China, YITU is best known for its facial recognition technologies that have been recognized by key industry bodies and received multiple international awards. Their technology has been deployed successfully in ATMs from China Merchants Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China, which enable face-authenticated cash withdrawals at ATMs without the use of a bank card in Suzhou and other cities in China.
Facial recognition AI technology has been heavily touted as the next technology to have practical applications, from cashierless payments to enhancing public security.