Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou eyes digitalisation, AI to regain ground in Asia-Pacific
- In a video speech at an event in Bangkok, Meng said there were ‘huge gaps’ between countries when it came to AI foundation models trained on global data
- The Asia-Pacific region only accounted for 6 per cent of Huawei’s total revenue in 2023, compared with 67 per cent for the China market
Chinese telecommunications gear maker Huawei Technologies is eyeing opportunities in digital and artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia-Pacific, according to its deputy chairwoman Meng Wanzhou, as the company looks to regain ground in the region.
“AI foundation models are trained on global data … but huge gaps remain between different countries and regions when it comes to access and application,” Meng said in a video speech on Thursday during an event jointly held by the ASEAN Foundation and Huawei in Bangkok. “These gaps will not close on their own; we need to work together to bridge them.”
Meng, who is also the chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, said Huawei will continue to work with partners in advanced 5G, cloud computing and digital power to lower energy consumption, as well as participate in the digital and AI transformation initiatives across the Asia-Pacific region.
Meng was celebrated at home as the face of China’s resistance to US sanctions aimed at curtailing Chinese technology development over national security concerns. She returned to China in 2021 after a nearly three-year court battle over an extradition request from the US, during which time she was under house arrest in Vancouver.
Since her return, Meng has assumed the rotating chairman’s position at Huawei, cementing her heir-apparent role at the Chinese technology giant. At a company event in Shanghai last September, Meng said Huawei would embrace a new “all intelligence” strategy to transform itself into a key provider of computing power to support China’s AI industry.
Meng told the Bangkok event that Huawei looks to help accelerate the transformation of all industries. “We want to make all things connectable, all applications modelable, and all decisions computable,” Meng said in the video.
Huawei’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific market comes after years of declining revenues in the region, triggered by the addition of the Shenzhen-based company to a US trade blacklist in 2019.
