Cayetano said Trump had no intention of skipping the EAS, a forum held annually by leaders of countries in the East Asian region. Its membership has been expanded to include the US and Russia among others.

The Foreign Affairs secretary explained that Trump had been scheduled to be in Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit on Nov. 12 to 13. The US president could not extend his stay up to Nov. 14.

“The decision was really that he will be here on 12th, 13th. We tried to accommodate. We tried to fix all the schedules. But since you’re dealing with more than a dozen world leaders plus the Asean, it’s very difficult to get all the schedules together,” he told reporters in an ambush interview in Manila.

“They were actually just waiting for the East Asia summit. Now that it has been finalized that the East Asia Summit will be on the 14th, it looks like his Secretary of State would be the one to attend,” he added.

“He (Trump) cannot extend another day kasi mahaba na iyong trip niya. Having said that, that’s normal,” he said.

“It would have been great if President Trump could attend all the activities but the reality is any world leader, especially of the United States, cannot spend too many days outside (their country),” he added.

“You can’t really attend everything,” Cayetano said.

He stressed, “The main signal is him coming here.”

Cayetano said Duterte and Trump would have a bilateral meeting where they would discuss issues on illegal drugs, security, terrorism, trade, and the economy.

Trump’s visit, Cayetano said, signals “a very, very strong message of friendship” with the Philippines.

The inclusion of Xi’s eponymous guiding philosophy for the nation at the end of a week-long congress could lay the foundation for him to remain China’s paramount leader far beyond his upcoming second five-year term.

Communist China’s founder Mao Zedong, and the architect of its market reforms, Deng Xiaoping, are the only other Chinese leaders to have their names in the document — and only Mao was alive when his was included.

Xi, 64, presided over the congress’s closing session where some 2,300 delegates approved the constitutional amendment to include “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”.

The concept places a heavy emphasis on the party’s role in governing every aspect of the country from the economy to what people are writing on social media.

“We must work tirelessly and forge ahead on the journey of realising the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Xi, who is due to be reappointed as party chief on Wednesday, told the congress in concluding remarks.

With his name in the constitution, Xi will have the last word on all political matters. He could stay on as the nation’s top leader even if he gives up the title of party general secretary when his second term ends in 2022, analysts said.

Xi’s predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao had their concepts included in the constitution, but without their names and only when they retired after two terms.

“China has a tradition of combining emperor and teacher, which means that the emperor is also the thought leader. Xi achieved it at the end of his first term. That’s rare in our history,” Chinese political scholar Hu Xingdou told AFP.

Xi also managed to get at least two of his cherished programmes written into the constitution: an anti-corruption campaign that has brought down 1.5 million crooked officials since 2012 and the Belt and Road initiative, the massive global trade infrastructure project intended to increase China’s influence abroad.

The congress declared the Communist Party China’s “absolute leader”, a clear sign that it intends to further tighten its grip on the country.

“Those who approve, raise your hands,” Xi said during the vote as a flurry of arms shot up in unison. When he asked if anyone was not in favour, shouts of “None!” echoed in the imposing Great Hall of the People.

“Now our country is unified, cohesive, and moving up in the world,” northeast Jilin province delegate Li Hualiang told AFP.

‘New era’

The congress also elected a new 204-member Central Committee, which included just 10 women. It will elect the party’s new ruling council, the Politburo Standing Committee, on Wednesday.

Xi is expected to secure a second five-year term as general secretary of the party and could also consolidate his power by filling the standing committee with allies, possibly without even presenting an obvious heir apparent.

A vast security apparatus was thrown around the congress, with businesses ranging from nightclubs to gyms closing to avoid any incidents and factories shuttered in what turned out to be a failed attempt to clear the city’s notorious smog.

When he opened the gathering last week, Xi declared that China had entered a “new era” with the ambitious goal of becoming a “global leader” by mid-century.

Xi has sought to portray himself as a responsible global leader while US President Donald Trump trumpets a nationalist “America First” policy and the European Union grapples with Britain’s exit.

His blueprint foresees no change in the single-party political system, and gives no sign that crackdowns on human rights activists will ease.

Some of his goals, such as building a modern military by 2035, go beyond the end of his second term, a hint that he foresees himself staying at the centre of China’s political life for years to come.

At the closing session, Xi said the congress established “the goal of securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and then embarking on a journey to fully build a modern socialist China”.

‘Full control’

Despite Xi’s rising power, the composition of the Politburo Standing Committee, the body that controls power, will still be crucial to his efforts, said Willy Lam, politics professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Xi and Premier Li Keqiang are expected to remain on the committee while the five other current members are supposed to step down under an informal retirement age set at 68.

There is no agreement among China-watchers about who will end up on the committee, or if anybody will emerge as a potential successor.

If the right allies are named, Lam said, it would show that “he has full control over the Politburo Standing Committee”.//AFP

Ahmad Zulfadzli Khamidi, 13, developed the app in just two weeks with training and guidance from the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre (MaGIC) at Borneo744 in Bintawa here.

He said the idea for the app came from his own experience of getting bored and sleepy quickly when studying textbooks.

“However, I faced some constraints in realising my dream. I had an idea but did not have the know-how in designing and writing the software codes for the app,” the second of four siblings told Berna­ma.

He said with this app, teachers no longer need to mark every exercise and exam paper, students do not have to bring books to schools and there would be no question of missing textbooks or insufficient stationery.

“The app is easy to use and suitable for students of all ages, whether in the primary, secondary or university level.

“For a start, it has English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mathe­ma­tics and Science, but more can be added on later,” he said.

Ahmad Zulfadzli’s creation saw him winning the junior category of Hack Weekend KCH, a hacktahon held in conjunction with Tegas Youth Forum 2017 at the Borneo Convention Centre on Oct 14.

He said he was now in the process of completing his second app for small entrepreneurs in Sarawak to market their products.

“Story is something that is too human to be technologically driven.

“AI feels more like a trend than anything revolutionary. I have a hard time imagining AI influencing content, which is about how to tell a story and tell it well,” said Coffin.

“Content is aimed at human beings, so I’m not sure how stories not made by human beings will psychologically impact human beings.”

In the current content industry, distributors, including massive online platforms like Facebook, take away an excessive portion of the value created by content, according to Geoff Mulgan, chief executive of the UK foundation Nesta, which researches innovation.

Policy initiatives are under way to recycle the profits of often monopoly distributors and funnel them into production, he said.

“Some EU countries, particularly France and Germany, are strongly in favor of taxing giant distributors to fund small independents or creative production.”

How skilled jobs will be affected by new waves of technology is a “complicated but optimistic story,” Mulgan said.

“Even as some jobs are rapidly taken over by technology, the net effect will be to increase the number of labor-intensive jobs. That has been the case for the past few decades and will continue to be so for the next few.

“It’s likely there will be growth in health, education, hospitality in creative jobs — a big growth in creative jobs is likely.”

New forms of education in creative areas that encourage problem solving and fluency of ideas are essential, he said. “Most education ministries are stuck in the previous era.”

For the first time this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will be measuring how well countries encourage collaborative and creative problem solving in schools, he said.

AI is also making ripples in the Chinese content industry, said Zheng Quanzhan, head of Tencent Research Institute, which focuses on developments in the internet.

“In China, AI writes articles and even poems, and paints paintings,” said Zheng. “But in the end, AI is equipped with the algorithms and data that humans program into it.”

Tesla Inc confirmed on Monday that it is in talks with the Shanghai authorities for local production of electric vehicles.

The US firm is exploring the possibility of establishing a manufacturing facility in Shanghai to better serve the Chinese market, said a representative at its China operations referring to a statement made by the company in June. “As we have said before, we expect to more clearly define our plans for production in China by the end of the year.”

The representative declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that Tesla has already reached a deal with the Shanghai city government and would build a wholly-owned manufacturing facility in the city’s free trade zone.

If the plans are indeed true, it would allow Tesla to slash the production and shipping costs of its cars sold to China. But since the cars would be manufactured in the city’s free trade zone, it would not get exemption from the import tax of 25 per cent.

At present, Tesla has just one manufacturing facility globally－in California, which has been facing several production bottlenecks.

The company is also looking to better expand its presence in the Chinese market, home to about 1 million new energy cars by the end of 2016.

On Monday the carmaker unveiled in Shanghai its largest charging station, which can accommodate 50 Tesla cars at the same time. So far Tesla has 700 charging posts in 170 Chinese cities.

Last week Tesla announced that it has modified the charging hardware on Tesla vehicles built for the Chinese market so that they can make use of the public charging infrastructure in the country.

If Tesla were to build a wholly-owned plant in China, it would be a major change in the country’s industrial policies which only allow foreign firms to set up joint ventures with local partners, be it inside or outside the free trade zones.

Last month the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission had said that China would further open up the new energy vehicle sector.

Yale Zhang, managing director of consulting firm Automotive Foresight, said Tesla’s localisation efforts, because of lower costs, will benefit its sales in China and the plant would also become a hub for other Asian markets.

Tesla delivered 13,500 cars in the first nine months of 2017 in China, more than double from a year earlier, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

Zhang said the move will also help boost China’s new energy car sector as a whole. “For instance, Tesla is more likely to work with local suppliers instead of shipping parts from overseas,” he said.

John Zeng, managing director of LMC Automotive Shanghai, said Tesla will set a good example for China’s new energy carmakers, most of whom are producing low-end cars.

Singapore is the best performer in Asia when it comes to providing adequate and sustainable income for retirement but there is room for improvement, said pensions expert Mercer yesterday (Oct 23).

Its annual report looked at 30 countries covering 60 per cent of the world’s population and scored pension systems on their adequacy, sustainability and integrity.

Singapore received a B rating with an overall index score of 69.4, up 2.4 points from a year earlier and well ahead of the global average of 59.9, it noted yesterday.

The higher score was down to improvements in both the adequacy and sustainability sub-indexes.

Mercer said no country got the elusive A grade, and urged “countries with unsustainable pension systems to take action now, rather than risk the need to take even more drastic action in the future”.

Singapore’s retirement income system is mainly based on the Central Provident Fund (CPF), which covers all employed citizens and permanent residents.

Garry Hawker, Mercer’s Asia zone wealth business coordinator and director of strategic research of growth markets, said in a statement: “Singapore has continued to make improvements through CPF in providing more flexibility to its members.”

Mercer noted changes to the CPF last year, including providing minimum pension top-ups for the poorest individuals, more flexibility in drawing down retirement pension amounts and increases to certain contribution rates.

Hawker added: “The overall index value for the Singaporean system could be further increased by reducing the barriers to establishing tax-approved group corporate retirement plans, opening CPF to non-residents who comprise more than one-third of the labour force, and increasing labour force participation rate (LFPR) at older ages as life expectancies rise.”

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which oversees the CPF scheme, welcomed the rating, noting that the “increase in Singapore’s index score reflects our continuous efforts to strengthen the CPF system to help Singaporeans improve their retirement adequacy and to provide greater flexibility to meet their retirement needs”.

As to reducing barriers to establishing tax-approved group corporate retirement plans, an MOM spokesman noted in response to Straits Times queries that the CPF system currently allows employers to supplement the retirement savings of their Singaporean employees above the mandatory CPF contributions via the CPF Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme and the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS). It said these schemes have two advantages over corporate retirement plans.

“First, it benefits the employee as additional contributions to the CPF and SRS are fully portable unlike corporate retirement plans. Second, employers save on manpower costs by tapping the CPF and SRS as no additional hires are needed” to manage their own plans.

On labour, the MOM spokesman said Singapore currently has one of the highest LFPR rates for older workers compared to OECD countries. Singapore’s resident LFPR for workers aged 55 and over was 49.4 per cent last year, up from 36.3 per cent in 2006.

“Since July 1 this year, employers are obligated to re-employ their workers at least up to 67 years old – this is up from 65 previously.

“Based on our surveys, 98 per cent of local employees who wanted to keep working beyond the age of 62 were able to do so,” the spokesman added. “As to non-residents, the CPF system does not extend to them as their stay in Singapore is transient and they are not expected to retire here.”

This year’s index has Denmark retaining top position with an overall score of 78.9 – its sixth consecutive year on top – ahead of the Netherlands at 78.8 and Australia at 77.1.

“Denmark’s retirement income system comprises a public basic pension scheme, a means-tested supplementary pension benefit, a fully funded defined contribution scheme and mandatory occupational schemes,” said Hawker.

Dr David Knox, Mercer senior partner and the report’s author, said countries that scored well adopt a strong multi-pillar approach, even if they have different takes on pension systems.

Mercer’s president of health and wealth Jacques Goulet noted that Japan, Austria, Italy and France are among developed economies without a “sustainable model that will support current and future generations in their old age”.

He said: “If left unchanged, these systems will create societal pressures where pension benefits are not distributed equally between generations.”

A cyber attack on NIC Asia Bank, which reportedly lost millions of rupees last week in the biggest-ever cyber heist in Nepal, was imminent, as the banking institution had allowed staff of the Information Technology (IT) Department to use computers deployed for SWIFT transaction to perform tasks like checking personal e-mails, the Post has learned.This lapse left the bank’s computers vulnerable to cyber attacks, “enabling malwares”, or computer viruses, “to enter and corrupt the server”, according to sources who attended a meeting of IT heads of commercial banks called by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the banking sector regulator, on Monday. The bank, sources informed, had also given its staff remote access to server on which SWIFT system was installed, which was another Achilles’ heel of the institution.

These vulnerabilities were exploited by unidentified hackers, who reportedly stole millions of rupees from the bank on Thursday, a public holiday when the country was celebrating Laxmi Puja. The money was stolen by “issuing around 31 fake instructions” via SWIFT, the global interbank payment system.

It is not exactly known how much money is missing from the bank’s coffers, as hackers “crashed” the server on which SWIFT software was installed, leaving the financial institution with no information of the heist. However, various sources the Post talked to put the stolen amount at around Rs460 million.

Debates are now surfacing on whether the damage could have been contained had the bank filled its vacant positions of head and deputy head of the IT Department. The IT Department of the commercial bank, which has assets of over Rs101 billion, is currently being run by junior staff, as senior officials have left the company. These junior staff do not have much clue about how hackers broke into the SWIFT system, sources said. It is now being said it was SWIFT, and not the bank’s IT staff, that tipped the management about the cyber attack after unusual transactions were detected at odd hours.

SWIFT is an interface that banks and financial institutions use to send instructions for fund transfers across the globe. Today, almost every banking institution in the world has its own unique SWIFT code based on which funds are moved to another institution. It is said over 90 percent of fund transfers in the world take place through SWIFT. “SWIFT is a very secure medium for fund transfer… we don’t know how the bank’s system came under attack,” NRB Deputy Spokesperson Rajendra Pandit said.

The NRB is currently gathering forensic evidence.

“A team of the NRB visited the bank again today to take stock of the situation. We will know exactly what happened after the study is complete,” Pandit said.

So far, the NRB has not found any evidence to directly link anyone to this attack. But it has not ruled out the possibility of involvement of bank’s staff in the attack.

After the cyber attack was exposed, the NRB had written to international banks and central banks of different countries not to entertain transactions generated from NIC Asia. “Following this, the bank has gradually started recovering funds that were stolen,” Pandit said stopping short of giving the details.

The Post could not contact NIC Asia officials.

The growth cap for all passenger cars and motorcycles will be cut from 0.25 percent a year to zero with effect from February, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said.

The affluent city-state of 5.6 million people already imposes a quota on the number of vehicles sold and the number on its roads, and has avoided the massive traffic jams that choke other Asian cities.

Singapore makes it costly for those wanting to buy a vehicle, who must first get a “certificate of entitlement”, valid for 10 years — the average cost of a certificate is currently around Sg$50,000 (US$37,00).

A Toyota Corolla Altis, a five-door sedan, can cost up to around Sg$111,000 in Singapore, including the price of the certificate, or about four times what it costs in the US.

There were more than 600,000 private cars in Singapore at the end of 2016.

No timetable was given for the freeze but the number of buses and goods vehicles will be allowed to continue growing.

In a statement announcing the change Monday, the LTA said 12 percent of Singapore’s total land area was already taken up by roads and there was limited room for expansion.

However it said the government would spend Sg$28 billion over the next five years to expand and upgrade the transport system, including the metro, which has recently faced criticism for a series of breakdowns.

10-year ‘Sunfull Movement’ on cyberbullying issue draws attention overseas

A man put a question to a group of anonymous people. He asked, “Should I die?” One person replied, “Yes, you should.” Another said, “Why don’t you give me your iPhone before you kill yourself?”

These were the posts on an online bulletin board in an Asian country. The man claimed that he had broken up with his girlfriend.

“(After a variety of comments were posted), the man was found to have really killed himself,” Min Byoung-chul, professor at the College of International Studies at Kyung Hee University, said during a recent interview with The Korea Herald at his office in Seoul.

Min is the person who has been trying to spread a positive internet culture at home and abroad over the past decade, though he is still better known as a renowned English educator among most local citizens.

While there are a lot of entities that advocate for human rights across the world, there is no particular tool to protect human rights in cyberspace — a tool that Min says is urgently needed.

His initiative and organization, the “Sunfull Movement,” was introduced in 2007 to promote civility in cyberspace via the posting of positive comments as a way to counterbalance negative comments and verbal abuse.

Major countries have focused on legislation for criminal punishment on cyberbullying as a simple follow-up countermeasure. Min’s campaign is somewhat pre-emptive or proactive — he is suggesting that netizens post as many warm-hearted comments as possible.

The Sunfull Movement, derived from Korean and Chinese words, matches with the English meaning for “nice” or “good-natured” and could also be interpreted as “full of sunshine.” It is a nonprofit entity, which fights against bullying and sexual harassment online, and the hurtful and potentially deadly impact of malicious comments.

“Our cyber-peace campaign, which is considered to be the first of its kind in the world, is spreading to countries such as the Philippines, Cambodia, France and Australia,” Min said.

The spread is attributable to the encouraging, positive comments for victims of terror attacks or natural disasters in foreign countries.

Under active promotion of Min and his staff, comments containing condolences and encouragement by many Koreans and some foreigners were delivered to bereaved families abroad. Comment-adding was easily accessible on the website (www.sunfull.or.kr).

“To resolve communication matters, our staff and volunteers provided participants with various types of ready-made English sentences (in which participants can choose) or translation services,” Min said.

Among the cases were the earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan in 2016 and the IS terror attacks in Paris in 2015. About 14,000 and 11,000 positive comments were posted, respectively, which were delivered to the affected families via embassies or local regional governments.

Others included comments for survivors and families of those who lost loved ones in the earthquakes in China and Nepal, forest fires in Australia and gunshot tragedies in North America.

Min was pinning hopes on the idea that the past activities could have the effect of preventing a second victim by placating families and residents there.

His office recently launched the Social Media Human Rights Committee, which also marked the first case globally. The committee, composed of a group of doctors and lawyers, is to offer free counseling for those who suffered from malicious comments.

For a committee operation, his office is scheduled to sign a pact with the Korean Psychiatrist Association in November to offer psychological therapy for bullying victims.

“Aside from Korean victims, I seek to pay close attention to the human rights of foreigners residing here,” said the professor.

Some officials in developed countries have started to acknowledge the Sunfull Movement as an anti-suicide campaign.

Two months ago, US Congress member Edward Royce sent a certificate of recognition to Min’s office and pledged to support and address the Sunfull Movement in the United States. More recently, Australian officials have expressed their willingness toward having some profound talks with Min’s office. The Philippine Women’s Club in Korea, via an email, said it would like to partner with Min’s office.

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Professor Min.

Korea Herald: What did you feel operating the Sunfull Movement?

Min Byeong-chul: Moving on to the next phase is important in life. Looking back on my life, what I have done for society is the Sunfull Movement. Verbal abuse inflicts pain on people and sometimes even takes lives. The movement is a process of realizing the seriousness of the issue.

KH: How can the victims of verbal abuse receive help from the movement?

Min: There are victims who are unable to receive proper help due to the financial burden or the lack of knowledge. We can be of help to them, legally or psychologically. For the victims who need legal advice, we offer a chance to consult with volunteer lawyers for free. Also, the Sunfull Movement is to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Korean Psychiatrist Association on Nov. 1, to provide psychological therapy for the victims.

KH: How does the system of positive comments work?

Min: Whoever sees malicious comments on the internet can leave positive comments that can offset the negative ones. For some issues, the campaign collects the positive comments and delivers them to the scene. We delivered collections of positive comments to the victims of the Kumamoto earthquake, the Paris terror attacks and more. The victims were touched by the fact that the teenagers in Korea offered words of consolidation and encouragement to them.

KH: Tell us about the damage that malicious comments are causing.

Min: People think they are alone. All they need is support and encouragement. A person in China posted on his social media, “Should I die?” Some people posted comments like this: “Yes, you should” or “Give me your iPhone before you kill yourself.” And the person really committed suicide. What the person needed was just, “No, you should not. Your life is precious.” It could have changed the outcome. That’s why we need the campaign, to let people know the consequences of malicious comments.

KH: Can positive comments be the solution?

Min: The Sunfull Movement believes that good words have immense power. They can dispel misunderstandings between people and countries. We once even planned to write supportive comments to the people in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, but things didn’t work out. But still, we believe that good words can settle disputes, even between countries. We hope to conduct campaigns in troubled parts of the world.

KH: What are your plans for the future?

Min: We plan to invite the Nobel Peace Prize winners, to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. Their encouragement speeches will be recorded on a video clip. We are also seeking coordination with a suicide prevention center in Melbourne, Australia to work on combating cyberbullying.

KH: Tell us about your lectures in the university.

Min: I teach students how to start their own businesses with passion. The name of the class is “Passion venture: this is creativity.” It is a job creation project for the young, what they should do in the era of the “fourth industrial revolution,” in an age of limitless competition.

KH: How can we study English more effectively?

Min: The ultimate purpose of learning English is to communicate. Studying English is like learning multiplication tables, you need a certain quantity of English acquisition. By making word clusters of questions and answers, studying English can be more effective. But the most important part is to practice. Jack Ma (the founder of Alibaba) rode a bicycle for an hour every day to go to a nearby hotel. He went up to the foreigners in the hotel and volunteered to give them a guided-tour for free in English. That’s how he learned English.

KH: Why is it important to learn English?

Min: Through learning English, we can create the future. For example, if a store owner wishes to meet new customers and expand the market, the owner needs to learn English. These days, opportunities of leaning English are everywhere. In other words, to connect the present with the future, one needs English.

[Profile of Min Byoung-chul]

Professor at Kyung Hee University

Doctorate of Education at Northern Illinois University

Korea’s leading English educator & counselor via major TV programs, his own institutions

Author of best-sellers including ‘A Good Person Will Succeed in the End’ and ‘Ugly Koreans Ugly Americans’

Founder & chairman of the Sunfull Movement

Memory chip giant Samsung Electronics has invested in a Chinese artificial intelligence technology developer as part of its efforts to catch up in the intensifying global race for AI platforms and devices, according to sources Sunday.

In August, Samsung made a significant investment in DeePhi Tech, a Tsinghua-based startup with deep learning technologies, a source told The Korea Herald.

“Samsung made quite a large investment in DeePhi Tech, which a group of Korean developers who met the startup’s officials found surprising,” the source said.

“Samsung appears to have made considerable investment in the Chinese company, in line with the Chinese government’s move to foster homegrown AI tech firms. The investment could have been made out of political consideration, not necessarily over the company’s technological prowess.”

It is the second investment Samsung has made in foreign AI tech startups following a $30 million investment in the UK-based Graphcore last October.

Samsung is listed as one of the partner businesses on DeePhi Tech’s homepage, along with China’s fabless chipmaker Mediatek, US fabless Xilinx and cloud service provider Amazon Web Services.

DeePhi Tech is a deep learning solution developer that was founded in 2016 by four co-founders who graduated from Tsinghua University and Stanford University.

The company draw attention from tech giants like Samsung due to its neural network compression technology and neural network hardware architecture.

SK Telecom, a Korean mobile carrier that is also passionate about its emerging AI business, had also offered an investment to the Chinese startup this summer, but the company turned down the offer, the source said.

DeePhi Tech offers the Deep Neural Network Development Kit, known as DNNDK, which is a deep learning software development kit designed as an integrated framework that aims to simplify and accelerate deep learning applications.

Samsung is reportedly interested in the company’s neural network-based AI chipsets for portable devices, which allow instantaneous speech recognition, neural language processing and other recognition tasks on smartphones.

Such AI chipsets, known as neural processing units, or NPUs, are at the height of market attention as a means to widen the use of AI programs, especially in smartphones.

At a seminar held at the Semiconductor Exhibition 2017 on Thursday, Kim Il-san, a senior researcher at Samsung Electronics’ system LSI business, said the adoption of NPUs in smartphones will be mainstream in the near future.

“Because it is inefficient to have the current CPUs in smartphones to process deep learning algorithms, adding NPUs will become a mainstream trend,” Kim said. “It is still difficult to comment on NPU adoption in the following Samsung Galaxy phones.”

Samsung’s semiconductor business appears to be ramping up its R&D efforts on AI chipsets lately, after an announcement by Huawei’s AI chip Kirin 970-equipped Mate 10 smartphone series.

On Thursday, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, a control tower for future technologies,  held a two-day seminar on development of AI technologies by inviting globally renowned scholars as part of the ongoing move.

“Many Samsung units are accelerating research on the development of AI at their own level,” said Yoo Hoi-joon, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Technology.

Samsung and DeePhi were not available immediate comments as of Sunday. A Samsung official said that the latest investment in the Chinese firm may be part of the company‘s direction towards increasing investments in AI-related startups around the world.