Long-standing US–China rivalry continues in tech

HANGZHOU, China

The tech war between the US and China continues as Chinese firms Tencent and Deep Robotics produce artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technologies that rival those of their American counterparts, becoming viable alternatives in the global tech scene.

The fierce and long-standing US–China rivalry is not only diplomatic or via trade but also in technology. The political tension between the two major countries has continued for many years, but a visible tech competition has come into the limelight with the rise of AI and 5G network connectivity.

The Communist Party of China considers data to be a sort of capital. Western social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and X are inaccessible in China, and therefore, the country has developed its own alternatives.

WeChat in lieu of WhatsApp, DeepSeek instead of ChatGPT, and Deep Robotics as an alternative to Boston Dynamics.

Founded in 1998, Tencent is China’s high-tech manufacturer. The firm introduced the instant messaging app QQ in 1999.

The same company also released WeChat in 2011. WeChat was updated to add a payment feature in 2013, and many Chinese people began choosing this method in their purchases, which became the Apple Pay alternative in China.

Nowadays, users can pay at large supermarkets and even small shops by scanning QR codes with WeChat.

With over 1 billion active users per month, WeChat is an “everything-app,” meaning it features multiple apps within itself. WeChat users can send money and even call a cab from a single app.

Officials from the company say WeChat Pay is used in daily purchases, while e-commerce giant Alibaba’s Alipay is used in online purchases, as the country moves toward a completely cashless society.

Meanwhile, Tencent is working on different apps to combine 5G and AI. The palm payment method, where people can make purchases by simply scanning their palms, is already in use in some airports and shops.

The firm has also developed a noise-cancelling algorithm that can boost voice clarity by 85% using AI, and a side project that enables remote truck driving via 5G.

As for Deep Robotics, the firm came to the limelight after unveiling its first four-legged robot dog in 2018. The robot dog was considered similar to Boston Dynamics’ robots.

These robot dogs, with improvements and subsequent models, were able to then autonomously charge and work in industrial inspections, search and rescue, and firefighting activities, as well as in earthquake relief drills.

Deep Robotics announced its first humanoid robot, the DR01, last year.