SHANGHAI — The industry scale of China's artificial intelligence (AI) industry reached approximately $43.4 billion in 2020, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

CAICT, a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, released the data on July 9 at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai.

The data also shows that the industry scale of the global AI industry grew by 12 percent year-on-year to $156.5 billion in 2020, while China witnessed annual growth of 15 percent.

The development of trustworthy AI has become a priority for the industry globally, as the technology brings not only opportunities but also risks and challenges.

An initiative on promoting the development of trustworthy AI was co-released at the conference by over 20 research institutions, enterprises and universities, with the aim of accelerating the formation of international cooperation and consensus, promoting the understanding of trustworthy AI, and fully tapping its industrial and social values.

The conference also saw the establishment of an artificial intelligence governance and trustworthiness committee under the Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance, with the aim of further developing a more trustworthy AI industry.

The committee will undertake functions such as technology research, standard formation, evaluation, pilot demonstration and international cooperation.