Elon Musk praises China's AI developments at state-backed conference sponsored by US-sanctioned companies

• Elon Musk appeared via video link at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, per Bloomberg.
• Musk said he admired "Chinese people's wisdom and determination."

Elon Musk praised China's developments in AI as he discussed the technology at a government-backed conference on Thursday, Bloomberg reported.

"I admire the Chinese people's wisdom and determination," Musk said, per Bloomberg. "As long as the Chinese people decide to do well in one thing, they will, including in AI."

Musk appeared on screen at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, which is hosted by Chinese government ministries, per South China Morning Post.

While the conference counted the likes of Amazon Web Services, IBM, and Microsoft as its strategic partners in 2019, semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm is now the only US company sponsoring the event, per the SCMP.

This year's sponsors also include Huawei and SenseTime, which have been sanctioned by the US. The American government has long suspected that Huawei has close ties to the Chinese government and feared that its technology could be used to help China spy on the US.

SenseTime – China's biggest facial recognition startup – was sanctioned by the US for its alleged role in creating facial recognition tech used to target Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang autonomous region of Western China. Both companies have denied these allegations.

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is notably not attending the conference which runs until Saturday.

Musk's speech comes less than two months after he visited China for the first time since the pandemic. He met with government officials and stopped by Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory — where he told staff late at night that their hard work "warms my heart," per a video shared by state-affiliated media.

The world's richest person received a 5-star welcome, including a 16-course meal. According to Reuters, Musk met with China's sixth highest-ranked leader, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang — believed to be the first time he's met one-on-one with a foreign CEO.

Musk also attracted criticism for comments he made on the trip. Musk reportedly told Chinese officials that he is opposed to the two countries weakening economic ties, and described their interests as "intertwined like conjoined twins" – per a statement from China's foreign ministry.

Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said his comments were "deeply concerning" and accused Musk of "kowtowing" to the Chinese Communist Party "as a basis for gaining favorable market treatment."

Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that didn't address the inquiry.