US, China in a tech-tracking Supermind competition

China is developing an AI-based intelligence platform called “Supermind” to track millions of scientists and researchers worldwide, aiming to hoover up breakthrough technologies for industry and the military.

The state-funded platform uses sophisticated AI systems to help find talent for China and is under construction in a new “information and intelligence” center in Shenzhen, home to big tech firms like Huawei, ZTE and Tencent, Newsweek reported.

The project, fueled by a US$280 million investment mainly by the Shenzhen government, represents a significant AI-empowered step in China’s bid to win a global technology competition with the US.

The Supermind will offer users 300 million global science and technology research papers and 120 million patents, and have the ability to locate 130 million international scholars or “human talents” to scrutinize their work. The system will be constantly updated and include Hong Kong and Macau in its networks.

Newsweek reports that Supermind is associated with multiple security intelligence organizations in China, including the Key Laboratory of New Technologies of Security Intelligence in Guangdong Province.

It also says the platform is networked with dedicated state data security organizations, such as the AI developer Pengcheng Laboratory, the China National Gene Bank, and BGI, a genomics company.

The report also points out that the Chinese database’s use of “intelligence” should be understood as seeking “information of use to the state” between classified intelligence and open source.

Such technology could identify and recruit skilled personnel in sensitive military fields, focusing on Chinese scientists working for US institutions.

At the same time, the US is also developing its