China has narrowed its artificial intelligence development gap with the US to just three months, down from over a year, though it remains behind in advanced semiconductor technology, reports Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

The progress is attributed to a surge in AI talent, rapid tech iteration and widespread application growth on the mainland, said Tony Zhang, head of China technology research at Citic CLSA, during a media briefing.

Despite facing shortages of high-performance processors due to geopolitical tensions, Chinese firms have continued to advance AI development, he said.

Mr Zhang credited Chinese cloud service providers for stockpiling sufficient AI chips for training, helping to offset supply constraints.

He added that domestic chip designers are increasingly producing processors for both training and inference tasks, supporting the country's AI ambitions.