Alibaba unveils own version of ChatGPT

Themis Qi and agencies

The cloud unit of tech giant Alibaba unveiled its ChatGPT-like product yesterday, intensifying the AI competition among China companies.

The new AI model Tongyi Qianwen - meaning "truth from a thousand questions" - will be integrated into Alibaba's businesses to improve user experience, said Daniel Zhang Yong, Alibaba chief executive and head of its cloud intelligence unit.

In a filmed demonstration, the Tongyi Qianwen application drafted invitation letters, planned itineraries and advised shoppers on types of makeup to purchase.

The application will initially be integrated into DingTalk, Alibaba's workplace messaging app, and Tmall Genie, a voice assistant.

It came a day after the Alibaba-backed SenseTime released new AI capabilities developed with the company's access to vast troves of data and deep computing power.

Alibaba's shares in Hong Kong jumped 3.8 percent yesterday, before closing at HK$99.30 apiece, 1.59 percent higher than the previous closing.

Baidu's shares dipped 5.4 percent in Hong Kong, while SenseTime closed 0.9 percent lower.

Zhang said Alibaba Cloud will cooperate with mainland mobile phone manufacturer Oppo, automaker Geely Automobile, Swire Coca-Cola and other companies in AI-service studies.

Like SenseTime, Alibaba's AI model will provide services in English and Chinese, and will soon include image recognition and text-to-image generation.

Moreover, Alibaba Cloud will enable its clients and developers to customize AI features.

"Alibaba Cloud is committed to making computing and AI services more accessible and inclusive for enterprises and developers," Zhang said.

AI has become the next big arena for tech competition between China and the United States, raising concerns over whether mainland companies will be able to retain access to the high-end chips needed to develop large-scale AI models.

themis.qi@singtaonewscorp.com