Will Google's AI Investment in Beijing Bear Fruit?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) has a checkered history when it comes to China. In 2010, the company shut down its search engine after years of fighting government censorship and a cyberattack from within the country that targeted the email accounts of human rights activists. Google redirected mainland China web users to its uncensored site in Hong Kong and its search has been blocked in the country ever since, though it has maintained a low-profile presence there.

Consumers in China are also effectively blocked from the Google Play app store as paid apps and content are prohibited. While Google Play is pre-installed on the majority of the world's Android phones, it is markedly absent in China, which accounts for a third of all Android users.

Even in light of its difficulties there in the past, Google is hiring engineers in China in an effort to tap the local talent pool in the burgeoning world of artificial intelligence (AI).

Source: Fool.com