Hong Kong must avoid jumping on AI bandwagon and focus on what it does best
As an artificial intelligence (AI) craze sweeps across China following the rise of
DeepSeek and
Unitree Robotics , Hong Kong is eager to get on the bandwagon.
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In unveiling Hong Kong's 2025-26 budget late last month, Financial Secretary
Paul Chan Mo-po expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of turning the city into 'an international exchange and cooperation hub for the AI industry'.
As a result, he has earmarked HK$1 billion (US$128.6 million) to establish the Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute. The organisation is expected to support the city's innovative R&D sector and industrial application of AI.
Tentative signs indicate Hong Kong wants to go big on building AI into a core industry to drive the city's innovation and technology even though it announced cuts in public spending to tackle its deficit, which amounted to HK$87.2 billion for the previous financial year.
While officials tout AI as a transformative force, scepticism is warranted. Hong Kong's track record in pursuing cutting-edge technologies has been less than satisfactory, to say the least, and its current fiscal constraints raise doubts about its capacity to compete in this costly arena.
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