by Xinhua writer Wang Qibing
GENEVA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- A Swiss artificial intelligence (AI) expert has said China has a clear national strategy to become a global robotics powerhouse, drawing attention and admiration abroad thanks to its robust industrial ecosystems, fast iteration cycles and large-scale deployment capacity.
Dominic Gorecky, co-founder and director of the Swiss Smart Factory (SSF) and president of the Swiss Robotic Competence Center (S3C), made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua. He said China, the United States and Europe play different, and potentially complementary, roles in today's AI landscape.
Gorecky noted that China has made rapid progress in robotics and physical AI in recent years. He said China is increasingly focusing on cost-effective open-source models, such as DeepSeek, which he believes can achieve comparable results with lower computational costs.
He added that China also has a unique advantage in execution and system integration, showing a strong ability to move technologies from prototypes to large-scale deployment by closely integrating hardware, manufacturing and AI technologies.
Gorecky also highlighted Europe's strengths, saying the region's competitive edge lies in advanced engineering and a long-term focus on sustainability. As a result, European AI solutions are often deployed in complex industrial settings and safety-critical environments.
However, he said Europe, while strong in early-stage innovation, faces challenges in commercializing and scaling AI compared with China and the United States. Europe needs a stronger framework to turn digital innovation into large-scale market success, he added.
The SSF, located in the Swiss Biel/Bienne Innovation Park in Biel, Bern, has carried out Industry 4.0-related research and innovation since 2017. Gorecky said Switzerland has built close cooperation among academia, startups and established companies in advanced technology fields such as autonomous robots, manufacturing automation and medical technology, with the SSF network serving as one of the country's key innovation clusters.
Looking ahead, Gorecky said AI is undergoing a major transition, from early analytical systems to generative AI now integrated into daily life. He said people will soon increasingly experience "agentic AI" systems capable of autonomous action, pursuing goals and adapting strategies over time, effectively becoming virtual teammates. ■