Google is Expanding its Artificial Intelligence in China

Google pulled some of its core businesses out of China seven years ago, after concluding that government controls and surveillance ran counter to its commitment to a free and open internet, reported NY Times. 

Since then, as China's online scene has grown and prospered, the American search giant has been looking for ways to tiptoe back in.

On Wednesday, it unveiled a small but symbolically significant move toward that end: a China-based center devoted to artificial intelligence. The move nods to the country's growing strength in A.I., thanks to substantial government funding prompted by Beijing's ambition of having a say in the technologies of the future.

Google said the center would have a team of experts in Beijing, where the company has hundreds of employees in research and development, as well as other roles. The center will be led by Fei-Fei Li, who runs Stanford University's Artificial Intelligence Lab and leads the artificial intelligence arm of Google's Cloud business, and Jia Li, the head of research and development for the A.I. division of Google Cloud.

The Silicon Valley company, which announced the center's opening at a software developer conference in Shanghai, cited China's growing academic and technical contributions to the A.I. field, and said the new center would be "working closely with the vibrant Chinese A.I. research community.

"The science of A.I. has no borders," Fei-Fei Li said in a post on Google's website, and "neither do its benefits."

Google did not disclose financial details.

The company is only the latest big technology name to set up an A.I. shop in China to capitalize on growing skills and lavish state support. Microsoft, IBM and other Western and domestic stalwarts are busy hiring Chinese...