Budget 2025: Hong Kong to tap big tech firms for AI training in schools

Big tech companies will be engaged by the Hong Kong government to provide artificial intelligence (AI) training for students as part of a measure to be announced in the budget speech on Wednesday.

The Post has learned that the government will work with tech companies to educate students from primary school to university through practical AI training courses to nurture talent from a young age.

Finance Minister Paul Chan Mo-po will deliver his budget on Wednesday, focusing on balancing the city’s books as he grapples with a deficit projected to reach just under HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion) for the 2024-25 financial year.

Beijing has made AI a national priority for industrial transformation amid intensified competition and a protracted tech war with the United States.

The central government has also shored up its support for the industry with favourable policies, as evidenced by the sudden rise of Hangzhou-based DeepSeek.

In Hong Kong, staff and students at Lingnan University have had free access to different versions of ChatGPT since 2023, with DeepSeek recently added to the list of available models.

The university made generative AI a compulsory course in the academic year starting September 2024.