China's New Generation AI Development Plan
The State Council published a plan for the country to become the world's major centre of AI innovation by 2030, with interim targets for 2020 and 2025.
Why it matters
The second state in history to declare AI a national priority, and the first with a budget comparable to the private sector's.
The plan covers theory, infrastructure, industry, talent, standards, ethics and security, and gives a section of its own to military-civil fusion in AI. Its scale differs fundamentally from Canada’s: building an industry rather than keeping schools. The earlier historical example is Japan’s Fifth Generation programme of 1981, which failed through betting on one specific technology; this plan is more technology-neutral.