Deals
China Fund Raises $500 Million to Snap Up Cheaper AI Startups
- Ex-Google China chief raised $500 million for AI investments
- His comments underscore concerns about stretched valuations
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Google’s former Chinese chief just raised $500 million to invest in the country’s artificial intelligence startups. But first, he needs their valuations to come back down to earth.
Lee Kai-Fu’s Sinovation Ventures is one of the biggest players prospecting for promising Chinese AI startups: a gold rush fomented by corporate touting and Chinese government backing that’s raised the cost of buying into the industry over the past year. About half of his new Fund IV has already been earmarked for investments in fields such as machine learning. But with many domestic startups offering little more than a concept, he’s counting on a crash in investor confidence to serve up cut-priced opportunities.