China’s AI Push Has Scale. But Substance?: Catherine Thorbecke

When it comes to the sheer number of generative artificial intelligence users in China, the question shouldn’t be how many there are, but how they’re using it.

A new report from the China Internet Network Information Center indicates the nation had some 515 million users as of June, up by 266 million since December, according to a readout from Xinhua. At a first glance, the figure suggests that Beijing’s push to spread the technology throughout industries to boost productivity — the so-called AI Plus initiative — is bearing fruit.

In the US-China tech competition, usage is an increasingly important metric to watch. ...