ChatGPT rush kicks U.S.-China AI race into higher gear

Hype or not, chips could be real issue for Chinese companies' AI competition

ChatGPT has set the tech world buzzing with its ability to generate content from simple user prompts. Now China Inc. is racing to catch up. (Source photos by Reuters and AP)

YIFAN YU and CISSY ZHOU, Nikkei staff writers

February 15, 2023 17:06 JST

PALO ALTO, U.S./HONG KONG -- The race between the U.S. and China in artificial intelligence has entered its next stage: commercialization.

Over the past decade, China's AI development has surpassed that of the U.S. by many measures, including in fundamental research. But the arrival of ChatGPT -- the essay-writing, exam-passing chatbot developed by American startup OpenAI -- has left Chinese players scrambling to catch up.