With a global AI data shortage looming, China boosts its own supply

China is moving to leverage data as a core strategic asset, aiming to build industry-specific data sets to power its next-generation Artificial Intelligence models, as developers worldwide grapple with a looming data drought.On Monday, the country’s data authority unveiled a sweeping nationwide plan to boost the supply of high-quality AI training data, underscoring Beijing’s resolve to secure a leading position in the global AI competition.The draft plan, published online by the National Data Administration, outlines a broad road map to expand the supply, circulation and commercialisation of industry-specific data sets. The initiative is designed to anchor Beijing’s AI Plus strategy – a top-down mandate to weave AI into the industrial fabric of the world’s second-largest economy.