ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 explores imaginaries of artificial intelligence (AI) circulating around the private sector, which frequently portray a vibrant entrepreneurial community of intensive technology development. Three key companies are outlined: New Oriental, Tomorrow Advancing Life (TAL), and Squirrel AI, which have emerged as influential education technology companies and substantial players in the development of AI for education. Significantly, these companies developed substantial businesses and educational markets in the private after-school sector. The chapter will also examine the movement of China’s ‘big tech’ companies into educational provision, often through the production of educational resources dedicated to AI training. As such, the private sector is suggested to be amassing significant authority in educational domains. Importantly, this chapter will also be grounded in an examination of the historical contexts, focused on the origins of the private sector, and the development of private education provision in China. This will emphasise themes of precarity and innovation that continue to resonate in the contemporary visions of AI in education.
