{"slug": "hong-kongs-ai-push-needs-a-broader-vision-and-more-realistic-goals", "title": "Hong Kong’s AI push needs a broader vision and more realistic goals", "summary": "Hong Kong is investing billions of dollars in AI projects, including a semiconductor centre, an AI subsidy scheme, and a data centre, but critics argue the city needs a broader vision and more realistic goals, as it cannot outspend Silicon Valley or outscale Shenzhen.", "body_md": "# Hong Kong’s AI push needs a broader vision and more realistic goals\n\nThe city is unlikely to outspend Silicon Valley or outscale Shenzhen. But it doesn’t need to\n\nHong Kong cannot be faulted for not working hard enough to catch up in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race. Government funding is flowing generously towards projects focused on AI adoption.\n\n[a semiconductor centre](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3263146/hong-kong-lawmakers-approve-hk28-billion-funding-set-semiconductor-centre-amid-us-china-tech-war?module=inline&pgtype=article),\n\n[HK$3 billion for an AI subsidy scheme](https://www.scmp.com/news/china-future-tech/ai/article/3317025/more-90-hong-kongs-ai-supercomputing-capacity-use-cyberport-says?module=inline&pgtype=article)and another HK$1 billion allocated for\n\n[an advanced AI R&D institute](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3300255/hong-kong-embrace-tech-driven-growth-ai-investment-paul-chan?module=inline&pgtype=article). In March, the government granted 11 hectares of land – pretty sizeable by Hong Kong standards – to a Hebei-based computing technology company to build a massive data centre at Sandy Ridge, which would increase Hong Kong’s computing power by 36 times the current level by 2032.\n\nThis ambitious project intends to provide the city with the computing power needed to take its AI development to the next level. Yet, the differential between mainland Chinese and Hong Kong electricity charges has caused lingering doubts about its commercial viability.\n\nHong Kong is spending an unprecedented amount of tax dollars to jump-start its AI development, which will transform how we work, live and even think. It is as though all the talk about building an “I and T” (innovation and technology) ecosystem has become obsolete. It’s AI and nothing else.\n\nThis is not surprising if you look at what is happening in advanced economies. In the United States, tech behemoths are outspending one another to recruit top AI talent and build the most powerful models. A phenomenal amount of money is flowing into AI investment. In May, Goldman Sachs raised its estimate of money flowing into AI in the US to US$800 billion by the end of the year.\n\nThe Hong Kong government is spending a pittance compared with the trillions that US investors and tech giants are pouring into the AI boom.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kongs-ai-push-needs-a-broader-vision-and-more-realistic-goals", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3358342/hong-kongs-ai-push-needs-broader-vision-and-more-realistic-goals?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-06-28 01:30:07+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-28 01:42:27.674410+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Hong Kong", "Silicon Valley", "Shenzhen", "Goldman Sachs", "Cyberport", "Sandy Ridge"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kongs-ai-push-needs-a-broader-vision-and-more-realistic-goals", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kongs-ai-push-needs-a-broader-vision-and-more-realistic-goals.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kongs-ai-push-needs-a-broader-vision-and-more-realistic-goals.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hong-kongs-ai-push-needs-a-broader-vision-and-more-realistic-goals.jsonld"}}