Hong Kong, China - May 22, 2018 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of representatives from Chinese tech giant Alibaba, AI (artificial intelligence) company Sense Time, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, signing documents
2. Various of Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, other attendees at AI lab's launching ceremony
3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Cai Chongxin, executive vice chairman of Alibaba:
"The AI Lab is an open platform. Today we have Alibaba, as a funding enterprise, and Sense Time, as a technology service and talent provider, but I hope more Hong Kong companies will also join us in the platform."
4. Various of Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor speaking
5. Attendees posing for photos
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Albert Wong, CEO of Hong Kong Science Park:
"AI is not an industry by itself, AI is a platform to enable different types of industries, for example, fin-tech, security, autonomous driving, retail...so what we want to do is to enable a application platform in Hong Kong using AI."
7. Logo of HKAI Lab
8. Office room
9. Various of screen
10. Man taking photos with mobile phone's facial recognition function
11. Various of screen tracking man's movement
12. Man introducing AI products

Artificial intelligence (AI) has shown the public how technology can open a new world of possibilities from enhancing the functions of computers and mobile phones with facial-recognition and movement-tracking technologies to enabling real-time human interaction with virtual environments.

In Hong Kong an AI facility, known as HKAI (Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence) Lab, was opened on Tuesday to meet the demand of and push the frontier of AI capabilities. The lab was launched through support from the Chinese tech giant Alibaba, the AI company Sense Time and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.

In addition to advancing AI research, the lab is also tasked with helping startups commercialize their inventions.

"The AI Lab is an open platform. Today we have Alibaba, as a funding enterprise, and Sense Time, as a technology service and talent provider, but I hope more Hong Kong companies will also join us in the platform," said Cai Chongxin, the executive vice chairman of Alibaba.

The Lab's first initiative is a six-month Accelerator Program to cultivate a local community of talent and startups in AI and data science.

This program will start in September, with two intakes annually selecting six to ten start-ups each time. Selected start-ups will receive up to 100,000 U.S. dollars in funding, as well as AI Solutions and IT Support through the Lab's platform.

The Lab comes as the HK government is pushing forward innovation in high-tech areas such as biotechnology and financial technology.

"AI is not an industry by itself, AI is a platform to enable different types of industries, for example, fin-tech, security, autonomous driving, retail...so what we want to do is to enable a application platform in Hong Kong using AI," said Albert Wong, the CEO of the Hong Kong Science Park.