Chinese artificial intelligence firm iFlyTek is planning to expand its business in Europe as trade tensions with the United States escalate, Vice President Vincent Zhan said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.
“The U.S.-China trade war has some impact for us,” Zhan stated, noting that North America remains the company’s largest market outside China. To mitigate the effects of tariffs, iFlyTek is working to diversify its supply chain while strengthening its presence in Europe.
The Hefei-based company, known for its voice recognition technology, currently operates in France and Hungary, with plans to open a Paris office by next year. It also aims to enter additional European markets such as Spain and Italy. Zhan said iFlyTek is choosing new locations based on existing partnerships.
The firm, valued at approximately 123 billion yuan ($16.97 billion) according to LSEG data, was placed on a U.S. trade blacklist in 2019, restricting access to American-made components like Nvidia AI chips. It has since turned to Huawei chips and DeepSeek’s AI models for its technology development.
At the Barcelona event, iFlyTek launched a tablet capable of transcribing conversations, underscoring its commitment to the European market. “This shows that iFlyTek attaches great importance to the European market,” a company spokesperson said.