Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee on Thursday announced a HK$10 billion (US$1.28 billion) “New Industrialization Acceleration Scheme” aimed at steering private capital toward emerging tech sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics. The government will also allocate HK$1 billion to establish a new Artificial Intelligence Research Institute focused on upstream research and development, commercialization, and real-world applications. The move follows growing pressure for Hong Kong to diversify its economy beyond finance and real estate. While details on fund allocation remain limited, the announcement signals a stronger state-led push into frontier technologies. Still, it remains unclear whether the city’s relatively small startup ecosystem and ongoing brain drain can support the ambition.