微軟CEO 中國超過西方

"I think one of the dangers, frankly, is that people who don't go to China too often assume that they're behind," Microsoft's Brad Smith told CNBC's Karen Tso.

Microsoft has operated in China since 1992, according to the company's web page, including through its largest research and development center outside the U.S.

'In many ways China is close to or is even catching up,' Microsoft's Brad Smith says

The West shouldn't assume that China is lagging behind the U.S. and Europe on tech developments, Microsoft's president and vice-chairman warned.

U.S-China tensions in the past few years have centered on the battle between the two nations for tech supremacy, culminating in a slew of export controls on critical technologies. Late last year, China's Huawei surprised the market with the release of a smartphone whose reviews indicated downloads speeds associated with 5G, sparking speculation of an apparent chip breakthrough that defied U.S. tech sanctions.

Speaking at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on Tuesday, Microsoft's Brad Smith told CNBC that "in many ways," China is close to or is even catching up on technology.

"I think one of the dangers, frankly, is that people who don't go to China too often assume that they're behind," he told CNBC's Karen Tso. "But when you go there, you're impressed by how much they're doing."

He predicted that Chinese and American companies will be competing on technology into the distant future and urged U.S. and European companies to collaborate to grow economies and bring new advancements like artificial intelligence to the rest of the world.

Microsoft CEO Brad Smith participates in a meeting at The Westin Palace Hotel, on 20 May, 2022 in Madrid, Spain.

Microsoft has operated in China since 1992, according to the company's web page, including through its largest research and development center outside the U.S. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said last year that the firm wasn't focused on China as a domestic market, but that it provides services to Chinese companies and has a more visible presence locally than do many other U.S. tech giants.

Asked about whether trade and tech transfers â€” or the movement of data, designs or innovations â€” with China will get more challenging as Washington transitions between the administrations of U.S. incumbent leader Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, Smith it was too early tor know.

"The truth is, as an American technology company, we can do business in China only when we are offering a service that the Chinese government wants to have there, and the U.S. government wants us to bring there," he said, adding, "And in some cases they look at, say, a data center to support a Mercedes or a Siemens or a Starbucks or a General Motors â€” there seems to be a level of comfort. In consumer services, not really."

He predicted that we'll live in a world where some technology will move to China, and it won't be the tech firms that decide.

“有一種危險在於，不去中國的人常想當然以為中國是落後的。”當地時間11月12日，微軟總裁布拉德·史密斯（Brad Smith）在葡萄牙裏斯本舉行的網絡峰會（Web Summit）期間坦言，西方不應認為中國在科技發展領域落後於美國和歐洲，事實上中國“在很多方麵”已經接近或者說正迎頭趕上西方水平。

美國消費者新聞與商業頻道（CNBC）13日報道稱，微軟自 1992年以來就在中國開展業務，還在中國擁有美國以外最大的研發中心。過去幾年裏，中美緊張關係主要集中在技術主導地位的爭奪上，美方還在關鍵技術方麵出台了一係列出口管製措施，但美國製裁沒能遏製中國企業的技術進步，這令市場感到驚訝。

出席網絡峰會的史密斯告訴CNBC，“在很多方麵”，中國已經接近或者說正迎頭趕上西方的技術水平。

“坦率地講，我認為有一種危險在於，不去中國的人常常想當然以為中國是落後的。可一旦你去到那裏，他們所做的一切會令你印象深刻。”

微軟總裁：不去中國的人常臆想中國落後但一去....

微軟總裁布拉德·史密斯在裏斯本接受CNBC采訪

史密斯認為，未來中國和美國公司仍將在人工智能等技術上展開競爭。他敦促美國和歐洲公司合作，利用人工智能發展經濟，並把這種技術帶到世界其他地區。“我們應該加快步伐，這對美國有好處，對世界其他地方都有好處。”

當被問及美國新政府上台“是否會導致與中國的貿易和技術轉讓變得更具挑戰性”時，史密斯說，現在下結論還為時過早。

“事實是，作為一家美國科技公司，隻有我們提供的服務是中方所希望的，並且美國政府允許我們把服務帶到那裏，我們才能在中國開展業務。”他說，有些技術會向中國轉移，有些不會，但這不是科技公司所能決定的。

值得一提的是，關於中美在人工智能領域的競爭，華盛頓智庫美國信息技術與創新基金會（ITIF）今年9月發布了一項最新研究顯示，美國遏製中國人工智能進步的意圖“不太可能成功”。因為當前中國正設法繞過華盛頓的出口限製，培育本土創新，迅速挑戰美國在該技術領域的主導地位。

報告指出，中國現在進行的人工智能研究已經超過了美國，並且正在迅速縮小與美國科技巨頭大語言模型（LLMs）的性能差距，一些中國開源模型也擊敗了美國同款產品，中國在AI領域趕上美國“隻是時間問題”。

“現在的問題已經不是美國能否在人工智能領域遏製中國，而是美國能否保持領先。”報告警告稱，比起將注意力放在實施過度出口限製遏華上，美國更需要集中精力，製定並資助一項全麵的國家人工智能戰略，以提升自身競爭力。

ITIF的斯蒂芬·埃澤爾（Stephen Ezell）表示：“總體而言，我們發現，盡管中國的創新體係並不完美，但比此前人們所了解的要強大得多。”他認為，迄今為止的證據表明，中國尚未全麵領先，“但在某些領域已經領先，在其他諸多領域，中國公司可能會在約10年內趕上或超過西方公司”。

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