Move Over Silicon Valley, Speech Valley is Growing

Want to be at the heart of the speech recognition revolution? You might have to move to China—specifically Hefei, Anhui province. Plans have been announced to build a hub for companies working on speech recognition technologies.

ECNS reports, “To realize the goal, the city has said it will expand Speech Valley, an industrial park forming part of the Hefei State High-Tech Industry Development Zone, to include at least 1,000 enterprises over the next three years.” Since its inception in 2013, Speech Valley has been focused on attracting businesses and researchers to Hefei. In September, the Anhui government said Hefei and the Anhui Investment Group “will provide a combined 5 billion yuan ($790 million) to support the project.”

Currently, 150 companies call the valley home, including iFlytek, which is dedicated to the research of intelligent speech and language technologies, development of software and chip products, provision of speech information services, and integration of E-government systems. By 2020, Speech Valley advocates hope to have 1,000 companies calling the campus home.