China’s A.I. Advances Help Its Tech Industry, and State Security - The New York Times

Tangentially, see Apple, Google CEOs Bring Star Power as China Promotes Censorship (Bloomberg) and Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai’s surprise remarks at China’s “open internet” conference (Quartz)

"The Chinese company uses sophisticated A.I. to power image and voice recognition systems that can help doctors with their diagnoses, aid teachers in grading tests and let drivers control their cars with their voices. Even some global companies are impressed: Delphi, a major American auto supplier, offers iFlyTek’s technology to carmakers in China, while Volkswagen plans to build the Chinese company’s speech recognition technology into many of its cars in China next year.

At the same time, iFlyTek hosts a laboratory to develop voice surveillance capabilities for China’s domestic security forces. In an October report, a human rights group said the company was helping the authorities compile a biometric voice database of Chinese citizens that could be used to track activists and others."

China’s A.I. Advances Help Its Tech Industry, and State Security - The New York Times