2026-07-13 02:00 UTCIn-site rewrite1 min readUpdated: 2026-07-13 02:06 UTC

China’s massive AI rollout - podcast

Senior China correspondent Amy Hawkins on China’s embrace of AI, from medical avatars to food delivery drones and state surveillance. While the spread of AI has been met with skepticism in the West, China has fully embraced the technology, with millions using AI doctors, intelligent robots in factories, and drones delivering food on the Great Wall. The state has also eagerly adopted AI for surveillance.

SourceThe Guardian AIAuthor: Presented by Annie Kelly with Amy Hawkins; produced by Ivor Manley, Tom Glasser and Ross Burns; executive producers Eli Block and Sami Kent

Senior China correspondent Amy Hawkins on China’s embrace of AI, from medical avatars to food delivery drones and state surveillance

While the spread of AI has been met perhaps with a lot of scepticism in the west, China has fully embraced the technology, explains Amy Hawkins, from millions of users talking to AI doctors, to the use of intelligent robots in factories, and drones delivering food on the Great Wall of China.

AI has also been eagerly taken up by the state, not least in the opportunities it provides for further surveillance, the Guardian’s senior China correspondent says.