This is not a simple, home remodel…China needs to be taken down to the studs and redone. Gonna take a long time, let’s not kid ourselves…
AlphaGo is China’s Sputnik moment:
The country laid out a development plan on Thursday to become the world leader in A.I. by 2030, aiming to surpass its rivals technologically and build a domestic industry worth almost $150 billion.
The plan comes with China preparing a multibillion-dollar national investment initiative to support “moonshot” projects, start-ups and academic research in A.I., according to two professors who consulted with the government about the effort.
The United States, meanwhile, has cut back on science funding. In budget proposals, the Trump administration has suggested slashing resources for a number of agencies that have traditionally backed research in A.I. Other cuts, to areas like high-performance computing, would affect the development of the tools that make A.I. work.
The two professors who consulted with the government on A.I. both said that the 2016 defeat of Lee Se-dol, a South Korean master of the board game Go, by Google’s AlphaGo had a profound impact on politicians in China. Then in May, Google brought AlphaGo to China, where it defeated the world’s top-ranked player, Ke Jie of China. Live video coverage of the event was blocked at the last minute in China.
As a sort of Sputnik moment for China, the professors said, the event paved the way for a new flow of funds into the discipline.
Dude, you owe yourself a trip to China. It’s real, and it’s spectacular.
1 Like
What was the last thing where the US government was the leading researcher? I think it was space travel or maybe stealth airplanes. All the recent innovations in the US are from the private sector not the government. We don’t need the government doing inefficient R&D.
Trump is just the beginning of what things will come to the US in the future. Tech is increasingly taking over the economy, but we are not sharing with middle America. We are getting rid of their jobs and tell them to drive for Uber for pennies. I suspect the political system will be increasingly hostile to us, and will hamper our growth.
4 Likes
Exactly the opposite. Because the publicly funded university researchers get rid of the deadends, the private sector can then cherrypick the promising projects and build business around them. Nobody knows which research project will bear out. You need someone to fund all kinds of crazy projects with unknown commercial prospects. Only then can you pick the good ones. It’s the bad projects that lays the foundation for the good ones.
I’ve been…the small core of folks on our tour became great buddies and that is how I got introduced to my beautiful wife. Networking, pays!!!
China is cool, just has some serious warts that one has to find some strong medicine for. That’s all. That’s enough. My Tracie, is more Chinese-y than me, and even she saw all the negatives when she was back there vacationing. She did some river cruise for a week I believe in addition to another 2 weeks I think. She had fun, but she mentioned the corruption. Frankly, I don’t know how you fix something like that, that is so ingrained into the fabric of a society. We often mention “putting lipstick on a pig”, well, I think it applies somewhat unfortunately to my ancestoral homeland. Everything on the surface looks great, until the government wants to rear its ugly head now and then…
Don’t worry, in 10 years they will have fixed most of those problems. Then it’s time for me to say adios to America.
Where in China? Shenzhen? Guangzhou? Or Dongguan? 
I just read this article. Amazing.
China has tons of data because it has 100s of millions of internet users. They mostly use smartphones not PC’s, so the data is more useful with payment and location data etc. Finally both the people and government have very “relaxed” attitude towards privacy.
Definitely a key area to watch.
How many companies are started from university research vs entrepreneur ideas? I’d also argue tech R&D spending dwarfs university R&D spending on engineering and science. That’s a ton of money spent on complete garbage academic studies.
"The federal government actually spent money to answer these questions…
::Where does it hurt most to be stung by a bee? – $1 million from National Science Foundation and DOD
::Do drunk birds slur when they sing? – $5 million from National Institutes of Health budget
::Why does the face of jesus appear on toast? – $3.5 million from National Institutes of Health budget
::Are cheerleaders more attractive in a squad? – $1.1 million from National Science Foundation and DOD
::Who will be America’s next top model? – $2.9 million from National Science Foundation and DOD
::What makes goldfish feel sexy? – $3.9 million from National Science Foundation and DOD
::Alligator on a treadmill - can you outrun a dinosaur? – $1.9 million from National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation
::Why is yawning contagious? – $1 million from National Institutes of Health budget
::How many shakes does it take for a wet dog to dry off? – $390 thousand from National Science Foundation"
More government funded “research”
Let’s not count our chickens just yet, boys and boys…
I seem to recall this…
Find a place for me 
Is 60 years lease hold house worth buying?
My first choice is Shenzhen. Guangzhou is my original motherland so I’m not ruling that out.
But Dongguan??? Come on… that’s like having to live in Sacramento when there’s the Bay Area.
Um… I’m not sure if that image should evoke fear or humor…
Jack Ma is trying hard to up-one Shenzhen, he is promoting Hangzhou.
I have no problem with a 60 year hold. I can always sell in year 59!
Ok, Bezos can promote Seattle all he wants but in the end BA rules…
Just keeping it real, for once…
The Old Guard is NOT going down without a whimper… Unfortunately, some blood will be shed before China casts aside its Mao jackets…
I think you need some catch up lessons on China…