From Baidu to Alibaba, Chinese firms working on ChatGPT-style technology

Like Microsoft and Google, Chinese tech giants such as Baidu and Alibaba as well as smaller start-ups have been working on AI projects for years.

Chatbots in China mostly focus on social interactions whereas ChatGPT, which learns from vast amounts of data how to answer prompts by users in a human-like manner, performs better at more professional tasks, such as programming and essay writing.

Here is a list of Chinese tech companies that have recently made announcements on AI technology:

SENSETIME

Chinse AI firm SenseTime on April 10 unveiled a slew of new AI powered products including a chatbot and image generator based off its AI model SenseNova. The company did not detail any plans for a product roll out.

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BAIDU Baidu Inc on March 16 unveiled its much-anticipated AI-powered chatbot known as Ernie Bot. It is currently available to a limited number of users who apply for access codes.

Tests conducted by Reuters show that the chatbot has a good command of the Chinese language but avoids answering some political questions

Baidu plans to use Ernie Bot to revolutionise its search engine, by far the most dominant in China, as well as use it to increase efficiency in cloud, smart cars and household appliances, among other mainstream businesses.

During an event on March 27 for companies that are testing an industry-focused version of the chatbot, Baidu shared pre-recorded videos of Ernie summarising financial statements and producing powerpoint presentations.

ALIBABA

Alibaba Group said on Feb. 8 that it was conducting internal testing for a ChatGPT-style tool. On April 7, Chinese media reported that Alibaba was seeking companies to test its Tongyi Qianwen AI chatbot. A formal launch is expected at an Alibaba Cloud event on April 11.

TENCENT

Tencent Holdings has set up a development team to work on a ChatGPT-like chatbot to be called “HunyuanAide”, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters in February. Asked for comment, Tencent reiterated a Feb.9 statement that it is conducting research on ChatGPT-tool technology.

FUDAN UNIVERSITY TEAM

A team from China’s Fudan University launched a ChatGPT-like chatbot they called MOSS on Feb. 20. The platform, however, crashed hours after its launch due a surge in traffic and the team apologised, saying it was a very immature model that had a long way to go before reaching the level of ChatGPT.

JD.COM

E-commerce company JD.Com said on Feb. 10 it plans to launch a product similar to ChatGPT that it said would be called ChatJD and will be aimed at serving other businesses.

CHINA TELECOM

China Telecom Corp is developing an industrial version of ChatGPT for telecommunications, which will use AI in some customer service functions, local Chinese media reported on Feb. 18.

NETEASE

Gaming firm NetEase plans to deploy large language models technology to serve its education business, a source familiar with the company told Reuters on Feb. 8.

360 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY INC

360 Security Technology Inc said on Feb. 8 it possessed language model technology but that it could not give a clear indication on when it would launch any related products.

KUAISHOU TECHNOLOGY

Short video app Kuaishou Technology is conducting research on large language models, which it will use to improve its products such as AI customer service, the government-backed the Paper reported on Feb. 9.

INSPUR ELECTRONIC INFORMATION INDUSTRY

Inspur Electronic Information Industry said on its investors relation website that it has long invested in AI-Generated Content (AIGC) from arithmetic, algorithms to the application of the technology.

KUNLUN TECH

Beijing based-mobile games firm Kunlun Tech said it planned to launch a Chinese version of ChatGPT this year whose code will be open source, the company said on its WeChat account on Thursday.

The company said in a separate statement that on Wednesday it will embed ChatGPT into its Norway-based web browser Opera.