Hong Kong’s main public research funding body for universities has approved a record 12 projects worth about HK$478 million (US$61 million) in its latest financing round, with artificial intelligence featuring in more than a third of successful proposals, including one aimed at cutting AI data centre power use by up to 20 per cent. The higher education institutions receiving the most funding are City University, with around HK$145 million, the University of Hong Kong (HKU), with HK$119 million, and Polytechnic University, which got HK$107 million. The Research Grants Council (RGC) announced on Wednesday that funding had been approved under two flagship schemes. The Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) has been allocated HK$320 million for eight initiatives focusing largely on healthcare, green technology and AI. University of Hong Kong-led research projects secured HK$119 million in funding.