Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is joining the competition in the powerful artificial intelligence space, hoping to rival OpenAI’s own ChatGPT with the launch of its own in-house AI tool. Known as “Tongyi Qianwen,” the large language model is currently undergoing testing on an invite-only basis by some corporate customers. To mark the event, the company’s cloud computing unit will host a technology summit next Tuesday in Beijing, with CEO Daniel Zhang himself delivering a speech on the occasion.
These developments are driving investors to pour money into Chinese AI companies, with the most notable example being the SenseTime Group Inc. The company, also listed in Hong Kong, has seen its stock increase in the past five trading days following speculation that it was working on a ChatGPT challenger of its own. Another example of increased AI activity is that of tech behemoth Baidu Inc. The search engine provider recently released Ernie Bot, prompting a wave of interest in similar technologies.
Alibaba’s CEO, Daniel Zhang, has been a core part of tthe company’s journey as it evolved from a humble startup to one of the planet’s most successful ecommerce behemoths. Zhang is also responsible for driving many of the company’s recent efforts towards digital transformation, specifically in the realm of AI. In this context, Zhang’s ongoing speech on Tuesday is likely to be closely watched by many of those interested in the latest AI innovation from China, and from Alibaba in particular.
Striving to keep untouched its rich legacy in the Chinese AI space, Alibaba has expanded its portfolio of offerings in recent months. The Tongyi Qianwen, which is believed to be the company’s answer to OpenAI’s powerful ChatGPT, is now openfor testingon an invite-only basis. The superpower of this tool lies in its ability to process queries in Chinese and incorporate relevant, real-world contextual information into its results. With the help of this AI tool, many corporate customers are looking forward to automate much of the heavy-lifting from their departments and gain a competitive edge in their respective industries.
It appears that large tech companies from China and other parts of the world are vying to take the throne in the AI scene. With their relentless focus on innovation and the release of their own tools, these companies may just have what it takes to disrupt the established juggernauts of the tech landscape and potentially shape the future of AI technologies.
