The two companies intend to leverage their respective hardware and software expertise to promote “a new indigenous AI development paradigm”, according to a WeChat post by SenseTime, in response to the “AI Plus” strategy unveiled in August by the State Council, China’s cabinet.
Beijing has made self-reliance across China’s AI stack – from integrated circuits to AI models – a national priority, as infrastructure buildout is expected to be a major theme in the country’s development of a 15th five-year plan.
The strategic cooperation is expected to result in a synthesis of Hong Kong-headquartered SenseTime’s foundational models with Beijing-based Cambricon’s growing suite of AI processors, according to Wednesday’s post.
The two companies said they would jointly develop AI computing solutions and “all-in-one” vertical enterprise services, as well as explore “pooling regional industrial resources … to build more dynamic and influential regional AI ecosystems”.
Cambricon, dubbed China’s “little Nvidia” by retail investors, is one of the country’s hottest companies after its Shanghai-traded stock surged fivefold over the past year. It went public in 2020.
