As it aims to become the pioneer in AI, China houses some of the world's largest privately backed AI startups.
SenseTime which develops facial recognition technology said that "once again set a new record for a single round of financing in the global AI field." After raising $600 million during an April Series-C fundraising from investors including Alibaba, the company has a valuation at more than $3 billion.
The company plans to use the funds to further develop and strengthen its AI platform.
It also wants to use some of cash to build supercomputers to help track thousands of live video feeds into a system that’re automatically processed and tagged, via devices from office face-scanners to ATMs and traffic cameras, maintain 100,000 feeds simultaneously, boost staffing, and fund autonomous driving and augmented reality.
"SenseTime has established an AI ecosystem anchored with robust research, deep industry collaboration, and diverse partnerships," said Li Xu, the company’s co-founder and CEO.
"Our Round C funding will maximize these advantages by accelerating the development of a global footprint with a larger ecosystem incorporating both domestic and overseas partners. The funding will also help us widen the scope for more industrial application of AI, thus increasing the value of SenseTime's global ecosystem."
"We’re going to explore several new strategic directions and that’s why we shall spend more money on building infrastructure," continued Li. "For the past three years the average revenue growth has been 400 percent."
Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai added: "SenseTime is doing pioneering work in artificial intelligence. We are especially impressed by their R&D capabilities in deep learning and visual computing. Our business at Alibaba is already seeing tangible benefits from our investments in AI and we are committed to further investment. Our strategic partnership with SenseTime will spark more innovation and create value for society."
SenseTime has been hiring many experts in AI, including PhDs, and since 2015 has published more papers at top AI conferences than U.S.-based giants like Google and Facebook.
The company also revealed some of its 400 clients and partners that include Qualcomm, Nvidia and Xiaomi.
