The year 2019 has arrived, but the wave of artificial intelligence has not subsided. A number of national strategic plans related to artificial intelligence are proposed consecutively in China, raising the development of artificial intelligence to an unprecedented height. As artificial intelligence scholars and technologies have emerged in recent years, artificial intelligence has embarked on a road of rapid development.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has brought abundant revenue to Internet technology companies around the world. The information revolution and mobile Internet revolution have not yet ended. The intelligent revolution has burst into human life like a fierce beast. Due to the advancement of basic research, the commercialization of artificial intelligence has been well supported. A lot of artificial intelligence start-up companies have emerged, and the market has ushered in a new turning point.

Artificial intelligence still needs to solve problems in the aspects of algorithms, data, computing speed, communication, sensors and storage, but this does not hinder the enthusiasm of all walks of life to embrace artificial intelligence. According to the data from International Data Corporation, it is estimated that by 2020, Chinese spending on robot development will account for more than 30% of the world.

Artificial intelligence puts emphasis on capital and operation. Therefore, whether it is the transformation of Internet start-up companies or the adoption of artificial intelligence technology in traditional industries, it is necessary to have to deep understanding of artificial intelligence, do a good job in international training of enterprise, deeply explore the needs behind the industry and artificial intelligence, and achieve the unity of knowing and doing in order to meet the opportunities and challenges brought by artificial intelligence. AI start-up companies that can find application scenarios in the vertical field may win more living space.

Face recognition is based on digital image processing which has always been a frontier research direction. The digital image processing technology will be develop into artificial intelligence (AI) in the later stage. There are also a number of outstanding companies in the AI vision field in China, as shown below.

1. SenseTime is a technology company focused on computer vision and deep learning technology. Its has technical breakthroughs and business layout in face recognition, image recognition, video analysis, unmanned driving and other aspects, and its scope of business covers security, finance, smart phones, robots, automobile and other industries. According to the data officially disclosed by SenseTime, it has served more than 400 customers and companies such as China Mobile, UnionPay, Huawei, MIUI, Microblog are all its customers.

2. MEGVII is one of the world’s first artificial intelligence companies to use deep learning technology to achieve the commercial use of face recognition products. It has the world’s largest face recognition open platform Face++ and the third-party face identification platform Face ID. It has launched a number of groundbreaking AI products in various vertical fields, including face recognition payment, face recognition unlocking and full-frame intelligent snapshot device.

3. WIMI Hologram AR focuses on computer vision holographic cloud service. It is one of the largest integrated holographic cloud industry entities in China with the largest scale, the most complete industry chain and the best performance. It aims to become a holographic cloud platform with the most potential and the most international influence.

WIMI Hologram AR covers many links of holographic AR technology, including the holographic computer vision AI synthesis, holographic visual presentation, holographic interactive software development, holographic AR online and offline advertising, holographic ARSDK payment, 5G holographic communication software development, holographic face recognition development, and holographic AI face changing development. With the one-stop service capabilities, it has grown into one of the largest providers of integrated holographic cloud technology solution providers in China.

WIMI Hologram AR has made major breakthroughs and leap-frog development in holographic application fields such as advertising, entertainment, education, and 5G communications. It aims at the in-depth research and development and market application of all links in the holographic 3D computer, including the vision collection, AI synthesis, transmission, presentation and application. It is also committed to constructing a scalable and open service platform, building a bridge between holographic technology application and holographic computer vision presentation, achieving the presentation of the application of holographic computer vision in different scenes, and promoting the leap-frog development of the industry, in order to realize the vision of WIMI Hologram AR, “to become the creator of China’s holographic ecology”.

4. Horizon created three of China’s first – the first to establish the AI chip company, the first to realize the successful tape-out of AI chips and the first to land and commercially use the artificial intelligence products of built-in self-developed AI chips. In addition to setting a number of records in the chip field, Horizon, based on the core technology of AI chip, released a number of products such as Matrix autopilot computing platform, and high-definition intelligent snapshot device / recognition network camera, etc. Relying on independently developed products, Horizon sets the industry benchmark of “algorithm + chip + cloud” with the leading R&D and landing capabilities.

5. CLOUDWALK focuses on finance and security in the business direction. According to the data disclosed by the company, there are currently more than 400 banking customers in the A+ financial sector including ABC, CCB, BOV and CMB, providing service 216 million times per day. Its products for the Ministry of Public Security in the A+ security fields are used in 29 provincial administrative regions. In addition, it entered 54 civil aviation airports.

6. YITU started with the business of To B. As an “AI unicorn” of companies that apply artificial intelligence in the field of security and protection, YITU has expanded rapidly after completing the C round of financing. Its “AI Map” has included several sections of AI security, AI finance, AI medical care, AI biopharmaceuticals and AI chips, completing the initial layout of the AI ecology.

7. Deephi Tech is a technology company specializing in providing deep learning and deep compression technology for neural network. It has a good performance in deep learning images and voice processing. It has previously received angle investments from GSR Ventures and Gaorong Capital.

Undoubtedly, the reason why these AI giants can succeed is not only mature technology, but also the landing of products developed, which is the basis for the survival of these AI companies.

The development of AI is entering the era of “terminal”, and the terminal including mobile phones, automobiles and wearable products will increasingly usher in the AI supporting. And the marginalizing application of artificial intelligence is far more than this, and it appears in many popular fields such as smart home and automatic driving.

At present, the star companies in the field of artificial intelligence, including WIMI Hologram AR, SenseTime, MEGVII, Horizon, CLOUDWALK, YITU, Deephi Tech and so forth, are all unicorns with image processing algorithm as the core. In the past three years, driven by the deep learning technology, the image processing has achieved rapid development. However, the front-tier imaging technology still stays at the level of 20 years ago, becoming a serious bottleneck for the future development of AI vision and the landing of commercial applications, and it is also the next battleground for major AI companies.

Compared with the digital era, the imaging of the AI era has undergone substantial changes in many key aspects such as imaging architecture, algorithm models, evaluation standards and light adaptability. The traditional digital imaging technology architecture can no longer meet the needs of AI vision, and is facing the dilemma of being quickly eliminated. In the next five years, the imaging technology is expected to complete an epoch-making upgrade from “image” to “vision”. Like the AI processing chips, the visual imaging chip becomes the core component of artificial intelligence, and the industrial upgrading demand derived from it will generate a new, multibillion-dollar increment markets in the imaging field in the next five years.