NetDragon Websoft Holdings Ltd, a renowned Chinese education and gaming provider, plans to use artificial intelligence to expand its international presence and alter the global education sector, according to Simon Leung, the company's vice-chairman. "We will definitely invest in AI because the technology will change the entire education sector," said Leung, a telecoms veteran and former CEO of Microsoft Corp Greater China. NetDragon was established in 1999. It used to be a top dedicated online gaming provider but has since 2010 turned into a diverse corporation with a focus on education. The organization has expanded into over 190 nations and territories worldwide, including Russia, Egypt, Nigeria, and Malaysia. The company has developed and launched a string of integrated educational devices, including smart boards and panels as well as feedback and evaluation systems, with many of its products and services being sold to public schools and governments.
After landing a deal in Egypt to provide 94,000 Promethean interactive screens to local schools, the Fuzhou, Fujian Province-based company has been actively advertising its AI products and solutions in emerging countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Ghana this year. The company's most popular product in other countries is the Promethean interactive display, which is an interactive, touch-sensitive whiteboard that allows students to interact with the shown content using various tools and applications. According to Leung, the product presently has the highest market share in nine countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy, and Australia. The United States is its most important market. According to the company's financial report, shipments reached 253,000 units last year, gaining 37.5 percent year on year. However, hardware development is limited, and the company has been converting to be a well-rounded provider of digital education solutions, according to Leung, who added that AI is highly crucial to the organization. His argument is forward-thinking: AI may be implemented in its hardware to assist teachers in lesson preparation and delivery, which is analogous to a software-as-a-service model, where Net-Dragon can collect subscription fees. "The emergence of the current AI large model and generative AI offers greater room for imagination, which may redefine SaaS services and accelerate SaaS's transformation from tool-based and business-oriented to enabler.
NetDragon will not construct a large-scale model on its own, according to Leung, but the company will seek external collaboration in the field, with Microsoft and Google being prospective partners. NetDragon said earlier this year that it would spin off its overseas education business and go public in New York via a backdoor offering through a merger with Gravitas Education in order to fully unlock the value of its overseas business. The united entity will be rebranded MYND.AI and will be valued at $750 million. "As we execute our plan to transform education with AI, this spin-off transaction will provide the right platform for the MYND.AI team to pursue our goal to become the category-dominant leader in the AI-enabled classroom technology space," he added. "We are confident that AI will enable more international students to learn at their own pace or to take advantage of personalized learning," Leung said. "The unprecedented times that we have found ourselves in mean that all governments around the world must find innovative solutions to ensure the continued education of all learners," said Tarek Shawki, Egypt's former minister of education and technical education. We are well-positioned to enable distant learning and the rapid installation of the company's solutions, allowing teachers, students, and parents to collaborate and learn."
