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China looks to overtake US lead in AI research
A new study from a team of economists at the University of Toronto has concluded that China is steadily gaining on the United States in the field of artificial intelligence.
The 2017 Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), a worldwide conference that presents the achievements of the world’s AI leaders, indicated that 23 percent of the authors of academic papers were based from China, according to the AI and International Trade study. This was a massive leap in terms of research output, considering that Chinese AI researchers only contributed 10 percent of the research output in the 2012 AAAI.
The United States, on the other hand, seems to be experiencing a steady decline in its artificial intelligence initiatives. While 34 percent of the academic papers presented in the 2017 AAAI were still American, the number shows a significant decrease from the output of the country’s researchers back in 2012, when studies from the United States represented 41 percent of the academic papers in the conference.
The University of Toronto researchers ranked the world’s most AI-active countries based on time-series data on the institutional affiliation of all authors of papers presented at the AAAI Conference. From this data, the economists concluded that China is catching up rapidly to the United States, with the former exhibiting a 13% growth in research output and the latter showing a 6% decline in academic papers from 2012-2017. The other countries in the Top 5 of the study’s rankings — the UK, Singapore, and Japan — were fairly consistent with their research output during the same period.
In a statement to the New York Times, Elsa Kania, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, stated that the United States’s own AI initiatives during the Obama administration might have ironically triggered the artificial intelligence boom in the Asian economic superpower.
“It is remarkable to see how AI has emerged as a top priority for the Chinese leadership and how quickly things have been set into motion. The US plans and policies released in 2016 were seemingly the impetus for the formulation of China’s national AI strategy,” she said.
Not long after the release of the previous administration’s AI reports, China unveiled a plan to become a world leader in artificial intelligence by 2025. By 2030, China aims to have an AI industry worth $150 billion to its economy — one that can stoke national pride and spark breakthroughs in the field.
AI will foster an era of ‘superhuman’ workers, says Google X founder [Photo credit: iStockPhoto]
Seemingly in contrast to China, the United States appears to have tempered down its efforts to maintain its lead in the artificial intelligence field. In a statement to the New York Times, Jack Clark of Elon Musk-backed OpenAI stated that the United States currently lacks a central national strategy in AI. Unfortunately for the US, a focused national stance on intelligent technologies is something that China has in abundance.
“We may have a bunch of small initiatives inside the government that are doing good, but we don’t have a central national strategy. It is confusing that we have this technology of such obvious power and merit and we are not hearing full-throated support, including financial support,” Clark said, according to an NYT report.
As we noted in a previous report, China recently announced a massive AI-driven initiative in the form of a massive 54.87-hectare, 13.8 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) technopark in Beijing that would house companies directly involved in the development of AI technologies and machine learning. The technopark is part of China’s attempts at attaining global AI superiority by 2025.
Overall, despite warnings from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and prominent physicists such as Stephen Hawking, countries such as China are going full throttle towards a future that is rife with evolving, intelligent AI.
Elon Musk
Delaware Supreme Court reinstates Elon Musk’s 2018 Tesla CEO pay package
The unanimous decision criticized the prior total rescission as “improper and inequitable,” arguing that it left Musk uncompensated for six years of transformative leadership at Tesla.
The Delaware Supreme Court has overturned a lower court ruling, reinstating Elon Musk’s 2018 compensation package originally valued at $56 billion but now worth approximately $139 billion due to Tesla’s soaring stock price.
The unanimous decision criticized the prior total rescission as “improper and inequitable,” arguing that it left Musk uncompensated for six years of transformative leadership at Tesla. Musk quickly celebrated the outcome on X, stating that he felt “vindicated.” He also shared his gratitude to TSLA shareholders.
Delaware Supreme Court makes a decision
In a 49-page ruling Friday, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick’s 2024 decision that voided the 2018 package over alleged board conflicts and inadequate shareholder disclosures. The high court acknowledged varying views on liability but agreed rescission was excessive, stating it “leaves Musk uncompensated for his time and efforts over a period of six years.”
The 2018 plan granted Musk options on about 304 million shares upon hitting aggressive milestones, all of which were achieved ahead of time. Shareholders overwhelmingly approved it initially in 2018 and ratified it once again in 2024 after the Delaware lower court struck it down. The case against Musk’s 2018 pay package was filed by plaintiff Richard Tornetta, who held just nine shares when the compensation plan was approved.
A hard-fought victory
As noted in a Reuters report, Tesla’s win avoids a potential $26 billion earnings hit from replacing the award at current prices. Tesla, now Texas-incorporated, had hedged with interim plans, including a November 2025 shareholder-approved package potentially worth $878 billion tied to Robotaxi and Optimus goals and other extremely aggressive operational milestones.
The saga surrounding Elon Musk’s 2018 pay package ultimately damaged Delaware’s corporate appeal, prompting a number of high-profile firms, such as Dropbox, Roblox, Trade Desk, and Coinbase, to follow Tesla’s exodus out of the state. What added more fuel to the issue was the fact that Tornetta’s legal team, following the lower court’s 2024 decision, demanded a fee request of more than $5.1 billion worth of TSLA stock, which was equal to an hourly rate of over $200,000.
Delaware Supreme Court Elon Musk 2018 Pay Package by Simon Alvarez
News
Tesla Cybercab tests are going on overdrive with production-ready units
Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the vehicle being reported across social media this week.
Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the autonomous two-seater being reported across social media this week. Based on videos of the vehicle that have been shared online, it appears that Cybercab tests are underway across multiple states.
Recent Cybercab sightings
Reports of Cybercab tests have ramped this week, with a vehicle that looked like a production-ready prototype being spotted at Apple’s Visitor Center in California. The vehicle in this sighting was interesting as it was equipped with a steering wheel. The vehicle also featured some changes to the design of its brake lights.
The Cybercab was also filmed testing at the Fremont factory’s test track, which also seemed to involve a vehicle that looked production-ready. This also seemed to be the case for a Cybercab that was spotted in Austin, Texas, which happened to be undergoing real-world tests. Overall, these sightings suggest that Cybercab testing is fully underway, and the vehicle is really moving towards production.
Production design all but finalized?
Recently, a near-production-ready Cybercab was showcased at Tesla’s Santana Row showroom in San Jose. The vehicle was equipped with frameless windows, dual windshield wipers, powered butterfly door struts, an extended front splitter, an updated lightbar, new wheel covers, and a license plate bracket. Interior updates include redesigned dash/door panels, refined seats with center cupholders, updated carpet, and what appeared to be improved legroom.
There seems to be a pretty good chance that the Cybercab’s design has been all but finalized, at least considering Elon Musk’s comments at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting. During the event, Musk confirmed that the vehicle will enter production around April 2026, and its production targets will be quite ambitious.
News
Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade
As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal.
Swedish union Vision has withdrawn its sympathy blockade against Tesla’s planned service center and showroom in Kalmar. As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal.
Vision’s decision to pull the blockade
Vision announced the blockade in early December, stating that it was targeting the administrative handling of Tesla’s facility permits in Kalmar municipality. The sympathy measure was expected to start Monday, but was formally withdrawn via documents sent to the Mediation Institute and Kalmar Municipality last week.
As noted in a Daggers Arbete report, plans for the strike were ultimately pulled after employer group SKR highlighted potential illegality under the Public Employment Act. Vision stressed its continued backing for the Swedish labor model, though Deputy negotiation manager Oskar Pettersson explained that the Vision union and IF Metall made the decision to cancel the planned strike together.
“We will not continue to challenge the regulations,” Petterson said. “The objection was of a technical nature. We made the assessment together with IF Metall that we were not in a position to challenge the legal assessment of whether we could take this particular action against Tesla. Therefore, we chose to revoke the notice itself.”
The SKR’s warning
Petterson also stated that SKR’s technical objection to the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla strike framed the protest as an unauthorized act. “It was a legal assessment of the situation. Both for us and for IF Metall, it is important to be clear that we stand for the Swedish model. But we should not continue to challenge the regulations and risk getting judgments that lead nowhere in the application of the regulations,” he said.
Vision ultimately canceled its planned blockade against Tesla on December 9. With Vision’s withdrawal, few obstacles remain for Tesla’s long-planned Kalmar site. A foreign electrical firm completed work this fall, and Tesla’s Careers page currently lists a full-time service manager position based there, signaling an imminent opening.
Delaware Supreme Court reinstates Elon Musk’s 2018 Tesla CEO pay package
Tesla Cybercab tests are going on overdrive with production-ready units
