China's AI industry has gained international attention this year after DeepSeek released a new version of its AI chatbot in January, sending shockwaves across global markets.
DeepSeek wowed industry insiders with its apparent ability to rival or even surpass the capabilities of Western competitors like ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost.
Schools in the capital will offer at least eight hours of AI classes per academic year from the semester starting in early September, state news agency Xinhua said.
Schools can conduct them as standalone courses or integrate them with subjects such as information technology or science.
"Innovative teaching methods will be introduced, utilising AI companions, AI research assistants, and other intelligent agents to facilitate human-computer dialogue learning," said a statement from the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, dated last week.
Beijing also plans to explore more opportunities for collaboration between universities and secondary schools to cultivate AI talent, it said.
This includes developing a series of "advanced AI education courses focused on the early development of outstanding innovative talents".
Last month, President Xi Jinping held rare talks with Chinese tech tycoons, boosting optimism that this signalled more support for the sector.
Xi has strengthened the role of state enterprises in the world's second-largest economy and cracked down on "disorderly" expansion in several industries.
DeepSeek was praised by authorities, with its founder also present at the high-level business symposium.
The spotlight is now on new Chinese AI assistants, with hopes that they could rival DeepSeek.
Chinese tech giant Alibaba last week unveiled an artificial intelligence model called QwQ-32B, which it says has "comparable performance" to DeepSeek while also requiring far less data to run.
In addition, the powerful new AI agent Manus is making waves in the country, with abilities generally considered more advanced than a chatbot.
China to use AI in elder care as population ages: official
Beijing (AFP) Mar 9, 2025 -
China said Sunday it will accelerate the use of artificial intelligence and big data in elderly and social care as it bets on new technologies to drive economic growth despite an ageing population.
The announcement comes as officials grapple with the country's low birth rate and a declining workforce.
"We will accelerate the development and application of new technologies and products such as big data and artificial intelligence in the fields of social assistance, elderly care services, and services for the disabled," civil affairs minister Lu Zhiyuan said at a news conference during China's annual "Two Sessions" political gathering.
The move would make services "more convenient, more accessible and more standardised", Lu said.
China's population fell for the third year in a row in 2024 and it already has more than 310 million people aged 60 and over.
As the workforce shrinks, the government has increasingly looked to technology to drive future economic growth.
Local governments have rushed to implement DeepSeek's AI model into their services since the privately run Chinese company released the latest version of its chatbot in January.
DeepSeek's cut-price model outperformed many of its Western AI competitors despite US curbs on sales of advanced AI chips to Chinese companies.
President Xi Jinping pointed to official support for the sector when he held a rare symposium for private companies last month that included several AI and technology bosses, telling them to "show their talents".
DeepSeek's founder Liang Wenfeng attended, along with representatives from top technology firms such as Tencent, Huawei and Xiaomi.
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