Huawei commits to ‘huge investment’ in top AI talent with eye on the long-term benefit —SCMP
What happened: Chinese telecommunications and smartphone giant Huawei says it will continue investing heavily in AI manpower, even if that means added costs. It said that the long-term payoff of AI development would be worthwhile. A representative from Huawei noted that despite the cost pressures, benefits like improved efficiency would lead to even higher profits.
Why it’s important: China hopes to become a leading force in the development of AI by 2030. The country is already the largest generator of data in the world, primarily driven by the now commonplace O2O services users utilize every day. However, acquiring new AI talent is a focus for the country’s big tech companies. According to Huang Weiwei, a senior management consultant at Huawei, the company has already managed to reduce manpower through autonomation and AI. A quarter of its staff has been eliminated in its technology services department as a result of increased efficiency, according to Huang.