New AI R&D institute to start operations in H2

The company will advise on frameworks for AI development.

The Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Institute Company Limited will start operating in the second half of the year, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan.

“The company aims to promote artificial intelligence (AI+) development and transformation of research and development (R&D) outcomes,” Chan said in his 2026-27 Budget Speech.

It will also advise on governance and regulatory frameworks for AI development.

In line with this, Chan said that the government has funded 16 laboratories under the InnoHK Research Cluster, focusing on sectors such as healthcare, logistics, smart manufacturing, and construction.

Separately, the $3b AI Subsidy Scheme has approved around 30 R&D projects covering large language models, new materials, and biomedicine.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Cyberport have also begun trials for the second cohort of AI sandboxes, concentrating on “AI vs AI” strategies.

Chan added that the upcoming data facility cluster at Sandy Ridge is expected to support AI applications, with the tender results to be announced shortly.

“Hong Kong's overall computing power has now reached 5000 petaFLOPS, laying an important foundation for supporting AI development,” he said.