The United States and China are pursuing artificial intelligence in "different directions", and the divergence is being reflected in the strategies that the governments and companies are adopting, according to the founder of one of the world's largest technology investors.
The US is focusing on supercomputing power and large models in the lofty pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial superintelligence (ASI), while China was adopting a more practical approach, using AI to solve real-world problems in development, said Huawei Technologies ' founder Ren Zhengfei.
"The US is seeking AGI and ASI to get answers to questions like 'What is human?' and 'What is the future of society?' They are trying to solve the whole problem [at once], but it takes time for [humanity] to know what the problem is," according to a transcript of Ren's November 14 speech to the International Collegiate Programming Contest, released on Friday.
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Ren's subtle dig at the US approach to AI reflects the strategy behind Huawei's own AI investments, as the Shenzhen-based company with one of the world's largest research and development budgets builds its home-grown alternatives to Nvidia's much-coveted AI processors.
The strategic divergence also explains why China is racking up users and developers with open-source large language models, while US technology giants are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on building ever-larger models.
Huawei unveiled a range of improvements for artificial intelligence training efficiency on November 11, 2025. Photo: Weibo alt=Huawei unveiled a range of improvements for artificial intelligence training efficiency on November 11, 2025. Photo: Weibo>
"China is focusing on how to get things done [with AI] to create value and fix development issues," the 81-year-old entrepreneur said.
China's AI pursuit is about "safe cities, improvement in public education and healthcare, automated mining and cement factories...and enabling coal miners to go to work in suits and ties", said Ren.
Huawei has pioneered the application of remotely controlled mining machines and highly automated mines in China, connected by its 5G telecommunications infrastructure.
Applications of AI should be the focus of developing countries like Indonesia, Ren told a student from that country at the prestigious global coding competition for university students.
"The most pressing issue [for Indonesia] is not to compete for global leadership in computing power or large-scale models, but rather to focus on applications," Ren said. "Indonesia has a large number of ports, and the demand for AI is urgent to automate shipping and port operations."
AI was important for Huawei and the company would focus on communication technology products, such as radio, optical, core networks and data transmission solutions, Ren said.
"In the future, the sense and control of AI will require sending data across thousands of miles, and it's necessary to create a high-performance network," Ren said. "Computing power without a network is like an information silo; isolated AI cannot achieve true intelligence."
Ren said Huawei would work on solving current problems across industries, which aligned with the pragmatic approach of China's AI development.
"Our company's research will focus on the next three to five years, especially on the application of AI models, big data and massive computing power in the industry, agriculture and technology sectors," Ren said.
Industrial AI application have been a key strategy for Huawei as the company looks for new directions after being put on a blacklist by Washington, barring it from accessing advanced American technology.
Meanwhile, Ren, who remains the undisputed leader of the Chinese tech giant even though he is not involved in day-to-day operations, said he admired US technology and called for openness.
"The technological power created by America is not harmful but beneficial to the world, and we should support their development," Ren said.
"China must be more open ... and refrain from shutting our doors and isolating ourselves."
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) , the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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