Singapore must forge its own strategy to become a global AI leader

CHINA now has the most valuable artificial intelligence startup in the world. SenseTime raised US$600 million from Alibaba and other investors at a valuation of more than US$3 billion in April, becoming the world's most valuable AI startup.

French President Emmanuel Macron argues that while the US and China may be in the lead for AI development, Europe is well placed - and has the right regulation - to create AI that can "assert collective preferences and articulate them with universal values".

As he sees it, the AI that US companies are creating is too focused on solving individual companies' problems, rather than citizens'. In China, meanwhile, AI development is ultimately carried out under the watchful eye of the central government. Europe, he maintains, offers a happy medium, balancing the needs of the collective with individual freedoms like people's right to privacy.