A proposed high-level committee that will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) could help tech start-ups in Hong Kong mitigate legal and geopolitical challenges, as well as gain access to important databases for model training, market leaders have said.

But the experts also told the South China Morning Post on Thursday that the committee, which was proposed in the latest budget and will be led by the city’s finance chief, would need to involve a diverse panel of experts and be “action-driven” to adapt quickly to the fast-shifting industry.

Lawmaker William Wong Kam-fai, who is also a professor of computational linguistics, said he expected the committee would “break down walls” and speed up funding approval processes, delivering faster support to the sector.

“AI companies in Hong Kong will need much more computing power and better algorithms to handle big data effectively,” he said. “For example, more companies could be allowed to use supercomputing centres.”

Wong was referring to the Cyberport’s own supercomputing centre, which launched in December 2024.

In Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget speech on Wednesday, he pledged to establish and chair the “Committee on AI+ and Industry Development Strategy”, which would devise strategies and create favourable conditions for industrial transformation.