Brad Smith, Microsoft's president and vice-chairman, has urged Western nations not to underestimate China's technological capabilities. Speaking at the recent Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Smith told CNBC that China is either on par with or has surpassed the West in several critical areas of technology. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a realistic perspective on China's advancements to foster effective competition and innovation globally.
“I think one of the dangers, frankly, is that people who don’t go to China too often assume that they’re behind,” he told CNBC’s Karen Tso. “But when you go there, you’re impressed by how much they’re doing.”
He predicted that Chinese and American companies will be competing on technology into the distant future and went on to urge the US and European companies to collaborate to grow economies and bring new advancements like artificial intelligence to the rest of the world.
US companies' 'China problem'
Talking about the presence of American companies in China, he said, “The truth is, as an American technology company, we can do business in China only when we are offering a service that the Chinese government wants to have there, and the U.S. government wants us to bring there.” “And in some cases they look at, say, a data center to support a Mercedes or a Siemens or a Starbucks or a General Motors — there seems to be a level of comfort. In consumer services, not really,” he added.