The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Anker Innovations Technology Co., Ltd (Anker Innovations) signed a collaboration agreement on 21 April to officially establish the "PolyU-Anker Innovations Joint Laboratory", marking a new milestone in industry-university-research collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The Joint Laboratory will focus on the research and development of on-device AI technologies, aiming to accelerate the intelligent upgrade of home devices and promote the widespread application of related technologies in the international market.
The signing ceremony was held on the PolyU campus. Witnessed by Prof. Jin-Guang TENG, PolyU President and Mr Steven YANG, Founder and CEO of Anker Innovations, the agreement was signed by Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Senior Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Mr Frank ZHU, President of Smart Home at Anker Innovations. Subsequently, Prof. Jin-Guang Teng; Prof. Christopher Chao; and Prof. Hongxia YANG, Executive Director of the PolyU Academy for Artificial Intelligence (PAAI) and Director of the PolyU-Anker Joint Laboratory, together with Mr Steven Yang and Mr Frank Zhu, officiated at the unveiling ceremony of the Joint Laboratory.
This collaboration will leverage PolyU research strengths in AI models, chip-level optimisation and model fusion, as well as Anker Innovations' extensive industry experience in the global smart hardware market. Together, they will build a collaborative innovation model of "university research and development + industrial application" to promote the commercialisation of research outcomes.
In his address, Prof. Jin-Guang Teng outlined PolyU's strategic positioning. He noted that PolyU is a research university that actively responds to the Nation's development strategy and aligns closely with the needs of industry and society. He emphasised that research outcomes should not only be targeted at publication in top international journals, but also be translated into technologies and products that benefit society. PolyU has high-calibre research teams in the field of AI and has established PAAI as a strategic development platform to drive the practical application of AI technologies, contributing to Hong Kong's development as an international innovation and technology hub and supporting the Nation's innovation-driven development strategy. Through its collaboration with Anker Innovations, PolyU hopes to accelerate the commercialisation of PolyU research outcomes and enhance the competitiveness of Anker Innovations' products in the international market, achieving mutual benefit and common development.
Mr Steven Yang said, "Anker Innovations has always been committed to enhancing the intelligent experience of consumer electronics products through advanced technology. PolyU's deep expertise in cutting-edge AI research is highly complementary to our strengths in product definition, scenario implementation and global marketing. The Joint Laboratory will act as an accelerator for technological innovation, promoting the widespread application of on-device AI in home hardware scenarios."
The Joint Laboratory will be jointly managed by PAAI and Anker Innovations' technical team. Initial research will focus on low-precision training, inference and fusion technologies for on-device models, promoting the localised learning and deployment of large AI models. While balancing computational efficiency and cost-effectiveness, it will further enhance user privacy protection to address core market demands for smart home devices. Through the Joint Laboratory, both parties aim to align with the Nation's innovation-driven development strategy, leading the smart home industry's transition from "connected intelligence" towards "decision intelligence".
