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President Michael D Higgins receives Chinese Premier Li Qiang at Áras an Uachtaráin. Mr Li told his country's AI Summit that China will organize the launch of an international body to jointly develop AI technology to prevent it from becoming “an exclusive game for a small number of countries and enterprises”. Picture: Maxwells

China’s big AI Summit, launched last week in Shanghai by Premier Li Qiang, kicked off just days after US president Donald Trump pledged that that the US will “do whatever it takes to lead the world in artificial intelligence”. 

After unveiling a so-called AI Action Plan, he went on to declare that America is the country that started the AI race, and “is going to win it”. In stark contrast, Premier Li Qiang headlined his AI Summit opening night by announcing that China will organize the launch of an international body to jointly develop the technology, with the goal of preventing it from becoming “an exclusive game for a small number of countries and enterprises”.