Photo/VCG

Dec. 18 (NBD) -- Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the core driving force of the new round of technology and industry revolution. 

Competitions normally arise in the AI field, and will promote the development of the AI industry, Liu Qingfeng, Chairman of iFlytek co.,ltd. told NBD in the The First (2017) Qian Tang River Forum kicking off in East China's Hangzhou on 16th December. 

In November, iFlytek, along with Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, was selected by Chinese government to build the new-generation national AI open innovation platform for intelligent voice technology. 

However, as one of Chinese leading AI companies, iFlytek didn't show a satisfactory financial performance. According to the report from iFlytek, its revenue reached 3.39 billion yuan (512.38 million U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of this year, increasing 58.16 percent year on year, with a net profit of 169 million yuan (25.54 U.S. dollars), presenting a year-on-year decline of 39.45% percent. 

Besides, on 30th November, Baidu announced that it would provide all speech application programming interfaces (APIs) for free permanently. The tech giant was said to snatch an order worth 200 million yuan (30.23 million U.S. dollars) from the AI company, going from a partner of iFlytek to a rival. But this rumor was soon denied by iFlytek.

Liu Qingfeng pointed out in the forum that competitions always exist in the industry but will enhance the development of the industry. The iFlytek has been competing with Baidu for years but the two companies are making efforts in different sectors and gaining revenues from different sources. 

Liu also told NBD that AI is changing the world fast and penetrating into more and more industries. 

He further noted that a company only with a concept of AI but no technology can't survive during the competition. In recent one or two years, as AI technology has created opportunities for investment, many start-ups and investment institutions have entered this industry. However, it is predicted that plenty of AI companies will go bankrupt in the next two years, said Liu.

Overall, the AI industry is witnessing a rapid growth now, he noted.

Email: zhanglingxiao@nbd.com.cn