China is taking steps to level the playing field for its AI startups. The backdrop is that Chinese tech giants are grabbing computing resources for AI training that have already been squeezed by U.S. chip restrictions.
At least 17 cities, including the largest city, Shanghai, have pledged to provide "hash vouchers" to subsidize AI start-ups. Due to the increasing scarcity of critical chips**, AI start-ups are facing rising data center costs.
"Computing power coupon" is an innovative measure pioneered by Chengdu City, which is a free equity certificate issued for the consumption of computing resources, with a total annual amount of no more than 10 million yuan. This policy aims to improve the scale effect of urban computing power, promote the "cloud and data empowerment" of small, medium and micro enterprises, reduce costs and increase efficiency, improve services, and solve the pain points of small and medium-sized enterprises, such as insufficient financial strength, lack of technical talents, and difficulty in matching computing power.
It is reported that Chengdu has built the National Supercomputing Center Chengdu and Chengdu Intelligent Computing Center, with computing power of more than 1000P FLOPS and 300P FLOPS respectively, and is the only city in Southwest China that has put into operation both supercomputing and intelligent computing centers. Chengdu also explores the construction of a regional integrated computing power scheduling system to realize the overall optimization and on-demand scheduling of computing resources in the "city-metropolitan area-Chengdu-Chongqing", and establish a matching docking and trading mechanism for computing resources between Chengdu-Chongqing and other hub nodes.
In addition to Chengdu, other cities are also actively promoting the development of the computing industry. Shanghai has established the Shanghai Supercomputing Center, the Shanghai Intelligent Computing Center and the Shanghai Cloud Computing Center, forming a "three-in-one" computing infrastructure system of supercomputing, intelligent computing and cloud computing. Shanghai has also issued the "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry in Shanghai", proposing specific measures to support AI enterprises in using computing resources, including issuing computing power subsidies, establishing computing power service platforms, and promoting the sharing of computing resources.
China's "hash voucher" policy has attracted the attention of the international community. Some foreign media believe that this is China's response to the impact of the United States' chip restrictions on China, and it is also an important measure for China to promote the innovation and development of the AI industry. Wall Street** commented that China's "hash voucher" policy is a "smart approach" that can help AI start-ups reduce costs and improve competitiveness. According to the analysis of the Financial Times, China's "hash coupon" policy reflects China's ambitions in the field of AI, and also shows China's vulnerability in the chip chain.
China's "hash voucher" policy is not only beneficial to AI start-ups, but also to the development of the entire AI industry. By providing subsidies and services for computing resources, AI enterprises can be stimulated to innovate, promote the application and transformation of AI technology, promote the scale and agglomeration of the AI industry, and form a good industrial ecology. At the same time, by building a regional integrated computing power scheduling system, the optimal allocation and efficient utilization of computing resources can be realized, the energy level and security of computing power can be improved, and the first-class computing power highland in China can be created.
Info**:
1: China issues "hash coupons" to help AI start-ups. Financial Times Chinese website.
2: "Hash Coupons" are here! The country's first special policy for the computing power industry was issued. Sina Technology.
3: "Hash Coupons" are here! The country's first special policy for the computing power industry was issued, with an annual limit of no more than 10 million yuan. The Paper.
4: Several opinions on accelerating the development of the artificial intelligence industry in Shanghai. People of Shanghai**.
5: china’s ‘compute coupons’ are a smart way to help ai start-ups. the wall street journal.
6: china’s ‘compute coupons’ reflect ai ambitions and chip vulnerability. financial times.