AI to everything in China's:
From the Editor
This is the week in which the convergence of the automotive industry, embodied artificial intelligence, and robotics in China can no longer be ignored.
It is the week in which China’s largest steelmaker shows how it is taming its 2,000-degree blast furnaces with the cool logic of algorithms.
And it is the week in which it becomes clear that AI not only consumes a lot of electricity, but also improves solar and wind power on the edge of the Gobi Desert.
Another week in which China’s industry is being redefined, bit by bit, by AI. No more and no less.
➤ AI + Mobility
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The Third Disruption is here: China’s Automotive Industry Enters the new Era of AI
Software-defined driving has only just begun, but embodied AI is rapidly replacing it as the most decisive factor for the success of products and business models
Jiading, a district on the outskirts of Shanghai, may just have written automotive history. OEMs, suppliers, robotics companies, and software firms have jointly launched a new platform to accelerate the rapid adoption of embodied intelligence in China’s automotive industry.
The changes driven by this technological convergence are so profound that it is no exaggeration to talk about a third wave of disruption now unfolding in China’s auto industry.
Why this matters
AI technologies originating in the automotive industry are being built into robots that, in turn, build better cars. Embodied AI is transforming not only vehicles—from intelligent cockpits and smart chassis to autonomous and connected driving—but also assembly processes in automotive plants. The automotive industry is being reinvented. ➤➤➤Read more.
➤ AI + Manufacturing
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Applying the Cold Logic of Artificial Intelligence to Hot Blast Furnaces
In cooperation with Huawei, the world’s largest steelmaker has started to tackle the 2,000°C hot "black box" full of molten matter at the heart of its steel plants
Among the industrial use cases for AI, the complex uses cases in steelmaking stand out as particularly hard to tackle. The mix of steel, gases and flames on the inside of blast furnaces, has traditionally prevented operators from direct observation, forcing them to rely on a combination of experience and gut feeling to control outcomes.
A specialized large model, trained with several years worth of data from several furnaces, co-developed with the technology company Huawei from Shenzhen, has been deployed at one of Baosteel's blast furnaces since August last year.
Why this matters
The use of proprietary production data, the controlled co-design of a tailor-made large model and the technology partnership between internal and external software teams illustrate the deployment strategy of a leading Chinese manufacturer for industrial AI.
At a recent conference in Shanghai, engineers from the Baowu Group and its subsidiary Baosteel have shared experiences and data from this crucial first AI deployment in steelmaking.
Please click here to find more details about how the world's biggest steelmaker is optimizing its processes with AI.➤➤➤Read more.
➤ AI + Electronics
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With Artificial Intelligence Entering the Smartphone, a Battle for User Data
China’s first AI phone is not only constantly sold out, but also a direct challenge to the likes of Apple, Xiaomi, and Samsung
In early December, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, and smartphone maker Nubia jointly launched a prototype AI phone. Wherever it appears, it sells out almost immediately.
What sets this device, called the “M153,” apart is the relatively deep integration of agentic AI into its operating system. This enables a new form of interaction with users.
Infographic: Asia Waypoint
Why this matters
This AI phone no longer waits passively for the next click. Instead, it can actively handle complex tasks across multiple steps and app boundaries. For the first time, the smartphone truly becomes a personal assistant.
If you are interested in more details on the rise of this new form of embodied intelligence, please click here: Read more..➤➤➤Read more.
The rise of the AI phone cannot be stopped.
➤ AI + Healthcare
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Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Reaches China’s End Consumer
• China’s public health insurance has to pay for AI
• Companies, research institutions, and government jointly build an AI cluster in Hangzhou
• AI health app “Ant Afu” reaches 15 million monthly active users
This week saw three important developments in AI and healthcare in China. All three relate to the core issue of "access to care". A brief overview:
I. Regulation
For the first time, the Beijing government has included “AI-assisted diagnosis” in a pricing guideline for pathological medical services. This move is expected to allow AI, at least in this segment of China’s healthcare system, to be billed through the public health insurance scheme in the near future. As a result, large parts of the population are likely to gain improved access to AI-based diagnostics for tissue samples and other medical specimens.
Why this matters
The lack of reimbursement for AI-assisted diagnostics has so far been one of the biggest bottlenecks to the wider adoption of the technology.➤➤➤Read more.
II. Infrastructure
On December 20, the “National AI Application Pilot and Validation Base (Healthcare) – Zhejiang” was officially opened in Hangzhou. The facility brings together companies, startups, universities, and research institutes, as well as a shared computing center offering sufficient capacity for training medical AI models.
Why it matters
The cluster is designed to provide scientists and startups alike with access to high-quality patient data and adequate computing power. Both are essential for developing specialized AI models for clinical practice as well as for R&D in areas such as embodied intelligence. ➤➤➤Read more.
III. Companies
Shortly after Ant Group, the fintech company originally spun out of Alibaba, renamed its AI health app to “Ant Afu,” downloads in China’s app stores surged and so did the number of monthly active users. The app is particularly popular in the provinces, especially in so-called Tier-3 cities with populations often in the low millions, where it is widely used as a complement to general practitioners.
Why it matters
Ant Group is currently building a new ecosystem that also integrates external service providers such as Meinian Onehealth (Health 100), where users can submit photos digitally for analysis. Devices measuring blood sugar, blood pressure, and other health indicators can be connected to the app as well. This is shaping up to be one of the most comprehensive attempts worldwide to anchor AI-based medicine in the B2C space, deliver tangible value to end users, and monetize all of it at scale.➤➤➤Read more.
➤ AI + Energy
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Artificial Intelligence in the Gobi Desert: How China Is Accelerating Its Green Transition with Large Energy Models
AI not only consumes vast amounts of electricity. It can also help to optimise modern solar and wind power plants through specialised models
Could artificial intelligence, despite its high energy consumption, ultimately turn out to be better than its reputation once its full environmental footprint is properly accounted for?
At least that is what a group of innovative engineers in China believe. Near the Gobi Desert, they are feeding AI models with data from solar and wind power plants.
At the Chifeng Green Hydrogen and Ammonia Project, AI is used like a “conductor”, enabling electrolyzers to be ramped up or down and renewable electricity to be managed in real time. Fossil fuels are no longer required as backup.
Why this matters
The integration of artificial intelligence into energy storage is modernising renewable power generation and supporting efforts to combat global warming in Asia. ➤➤➤Read On.
Envision’s Chifeng Net Zero Hydrogen Industrial Park. Photo: Envision Group
