Chinese telecommunications gear giant Huawei Technologies will work with the steel and aviation industries to drive the use of digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies through a deal with industrial conglomerate Fangda Group Industrial.
Huawei signed strategic partnership deals on Friday with Hainan Airlines Holding and Fangda Special Steel Technology, both owned by Fangda Group. The collaboration focuses on smart transformation, trial applications of AI large language models (LLM), the low-altitude economy and other areas, according to a statement issued by the conglomerate, whose business interests also cover the carbon, healthcare and commerce sectors.
The deal between Huawei and Fangda comes as the Shenzhen-based technology giant is deepening its footprint in traditional industries to empower China’s conventional businesses with its AI and communication technologies.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
Fangda chairman Fang Wei said the company hoped to further expand its collaboration with Huawei into its pharmaceutical business, based on the “long-term and in-depth cooperation” in aviation and steel, according to the statement published on Sunday.
Travelers at the Hainan Airlines check-in counter at Beijing Capital International Airport, March 6, 2020. Photo: AP alt=Travelers at the Hainan Airlines check-in counter at Beijing Capital International Airport, March 6, 2020. Photo: AP>
While the aviation and steel segments under Fangda are very different industries, they both have the foundational need to develop AI and big data technologies, Huawei’s cloud chief Zhang Pingan was quoted as saying in the statement.
Privately held Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
According to a separate statement by Fangda Special Steel, the company will work with Huawei to build a steel industry model and tackle the challenges of applying LLMs in the industry.
The partnership will “promote the deep integration of digital technology with the firm’s core steel business operations”, and boost the company’s digitisation level and competitiveness in the market, Fangda Special Steel also said.
The new partnerships formed by Huawei, the world’s largest telecoms equipment supplier and one of China’s major smartphone vendors, came amid the company’s ongoing efforts to diversify its business into traditional industries by applying technologies such as cloud computing and AI.
