Fast-growing AI, computing power prop up high-quality development of digital economy: experts

The advent of fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) and increased computing power, coupled with the innovative, integrated development of other related industries will give a major boost to the high-quality development of the digital economy, according to experts.

With the rapid development of the digital economy and the widespread application of information technology, the computing power, as the cornerstone of the AI development, has become a main prop to shore up the social development, according to attendees the 2024 Artificial General Intelligence Computility Forum in Beijing on Thursday.

China's overall computing power has grown at an average annual rate of nearly 30 percent over the past five years, reaching 1.97 trillion floating-point operations per second, ranking second globally.

Alongside China's 'new quality productive forces' -- which refers to an increased focus on innovation and technology -- insiders say that this enhanced computing capability is one of the key drivers pushing forward the country's high-quality development.

"Computing power has promoted the development of the artificial intelligence application, and applications and scenarios have in turn driven the development of computing power. And both have jointly promoted the development of new quality productive forces. Artificial intelligence has been integrated into all walks of life. The faster the computing power, the better the application scenario experience will be," said Wang Yi, president and general manager of NETNIC, an IT networking and cloud computing services provider.

The cutting-edge breakthroughs being made in the advancement of AI are also playing a big role in boosting the development of the sports service sector.

At the Forum on the Development of New Quality Productive Forces in Sports Services, also held in the Chinese capital on Thursday, attendees held in-depth discussions on how new tech innovations can drive the optimization and upgrading of the sports industry and supply chains, deepen the innovative development of the digital sports economy, and empower the cultivation of talents.

"We have been using digital technology to help the development of the entire sports event economy from multiple aspects such as the players' service experience and the delivery of events. At the same time, the rapid development of sports equipment in terms of intelligence, digitization and convenience has created greater development space for the sports service industry," said Chen Li, president of Boden Sports.

Fast-growing AI, computing power prop up high-quality development of digital economy: experts

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that his country has not sent hypersonic missiles to Yemen's Houthi group.

The president made the remarks at a press conference in Tehran, in response to a question from an Al Jazeera news network reporter who quoted political experts saying that Iran has supplied hypersonic missiles, or the technology to develop them, to the Houthis.

Iran has hypersonic missiles, but not of the same kind that the Houthis possess, Pezeshkian said, adding that the Houthis themselves had developed the missiles over time.

It is impossible for Iran to send missiles to Yemen covertly when it takes more than a week just to send solely human forces to the country, he said.

Pezeshkian said that Iran and the Houthis have worked together against Israel's "genocide" in Gaza, and stressed that the international community should condemn the crimes against humanity committed by Israel.

"If [the Western] countries are worried about the security of Israel, why are they not concerned about the security of Gaza Strip, the security of Palestine and innocent people? Civilized countries and supporters of human rights should not allow power to bomb and kill innocent civilians while simultaneously accusing Iran of supplying missiles to Yemen's Houthis," said Pezeshkian.

On Iran-U.S. relations, Pezeshkian emphasized Iran's pursuit of peace over conflict and clarified that Iran has no intentions of building nuclear weapons.

However, he said, the U.S. has chosen to abandon the Iran nuclear deal and made threats against Iran. The possibility of a relaxation in strained relations between the two sides hinges on the U.S. dropping its animosity towards Iran and revoking its extensive sanctions against the country, he said.

"We don't want to start a war, but the U.S. wants to impose wars on us. If the U.S. is willing to respect Iran's rights, we will not engage in conflict with the U.S. or any other party. We hope to develop safely in our own country without the U.S. undermining Iran's security or threaten and humiliate Iran. we will never accept humiliation," Pezeshkian said.

Iran has not sent hypersonic missiles to Yemen's Houthis: President Pezeshkian