Chinese tech giant, Alibaba plans to release ChatGPT rival

 Chinese tech giant, Alibaba, has revealed plans to release its very own artificial intelligence (AI) product called Tongyi Qianwen. The tool is expected to rival ChatGPT, the chatbot created by Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The company announced that it would integrate Tongyi Qianwen into all of Alibaba’s businesses in the future. However, it has not revealed the timeline for this integration.

According to the company’s computing unit, Tongyi Qianwen operates in both English and Chinese and is capable of performing various tasks such as drafting business proposals and converting discussions in meetings to written notes. The chatbot will be first added to Alibaba’s workplace messaging app, DingTalk, and later incorporated into Tmall Genie, which is similar to Amazon’s voice assistant smart speaker.

“We are at a technological watershed moment driven by generative AI and cloud computing, and businesses across all sectors have started to embrace intelligence transformation to stay ahead of the game”

Daniel Zhang, Chairman & CEO, Ali baba Cloud Intelligence

The Generative AI rave

The release of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022 has spurred the interest in generative AI. The technology uses past data to generate content that is similar to human work. ChatGPT can answer questions using human-like and natural language and can also copy other writing styles, using the internet as its database.

Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google have also released similar chatbots and their own AI models. Recently, China’s cyberspace regulator revealed measures for managing generative AI, where companies will be responsible for the legitimacy of data in developing the technology. The public has until May 10 to provide feedback on the proposed regulations.

However, amidst fears of a threat to man and the environment, several high-profile figures in tech companies, including Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak and Twitter chief executive Elon Musk, have requested the suspension of training powerful AI systems. Italy has already become the first Western country to block ChatGPT due to privacy concerns raised by the country’s data protection authority.

Alibaba’s chairman and chief executive, Daniel Zhang, claimed that the company is currently at a technological turning point driven by cloud computing and generative AI. The company’s decision to create its AI product, Tongyi Qianwen, reflects the growing demand for generative AI chatbots in the tech industry. The company has not disclosed any further details on the development and release of Tongyi Qianwen

Photo credit: www.alibaba.com