Comment by yzh

I think both Baidu's AI lab in Beijing and its Silicon Valley lab led by Andrew Ng have top researchers and engineers. The copy issue only shows how bad laws are enforced in China, and there is a lot to improve. Also, I don't think the tech of self-driving car can be copied. The idea can be copied and in these days, idea is cheap. That said, I totally agree that China needs IT companies that do cutting edge stuff within one field. Baidu, Tencent, and even Alibaba all failed to do so. But I have a good feeling about the future. Look at some of the young and promising start-ups in China that have leading technology in its own field:

http://www.faceplusplus.com/

http://www.dji.com/

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/

Edited format.