How is China doing in the AI race? Tech giants and startups are pushing boundaries

Alibaba Cloud recently released over 100 new open-source models in its Qwen 2.5 family. 

These models range in size from 0.5 to 72 billion parameters and handle tasks from coding to math in 29 different languages. 

The company’s Tongyi model, available through the Model Studio platform, has seen its user base jump from 90,000 to over 300,000 in just a few months.

Alibaba is also pushing the boundaries in multimodal AI. They’ve introduced a text-to-video model that can create various video styles from written descriptions, similar to OpenAI’s Sora, which has yet to be released.

The company’s Qwen 2-VL model can understand and answer questions about videos up to 20 minutes long – a massive accomplishment in processing and interpreting complex visual information. 

To support its frenetic AI R&D activity, Alibaba Cloud has launched a new, more efficient data center design called CUBE DC 5.0. 

It has also introduced Alibaba Cloud Open Lake to help companies manage the vast amounts of data required for AI systems.

While Alibaba is the latest Chinese AI company to make its mark on the international industry, it’s far from the only one.

In fact, China’s AI industry is flourishing, driven by top talent, technological innovation, and a determined strategy to keep pace with the US.

The flourishing Chinese AI ecosystem

China’s fast-developing AI industry is rich and diverse. It begs the question – have US efforts to restrict China’s AI R&D ultimately failed? 

Let’s examine some of its established and upcoming tech and AI businesses. 

Baidu

One of the country’s largest tech companies, Baidu’s Ernie 4.0, is claimed to rival GPT-4 in handling complex questions and logical reasoning. 

Baidu’s CEO, Robin Li, boldly states that Ernie 4.0 “is not inferior in any aspect to GPT-4.”

Baidu’s AI ambitions extend beyond software. The company is developing its own AI chip, the Kunlun 3, to be manufactured by TSMC. 

This showcases Baidu’s commitment to AI’s software and hardware aspects, potentially giving it an edge in the face of U.S. chip export restrictions.

ByteDance

The company behind TikTok has made significant inroads in the AI space with Doubao, an AI-powered chatbot that has gained substantial traction in China. 

Impressively, Doubao has surpassed Baidu’s Ernie Bot in downloads and active monthly users on iOS, indicating strong user preference.

ByteDance isn’t stopping at chatbots. The company has released a series of large language models under the umbrella “Doubao” for enterprises, offering a cost-effective alternative to competitors. 

In a move that echoes Baidu’s strategy, ByteDance is reportedly designing two chips with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, aiming for mass production by 2026.

SenseTime

As one of China’s leading AI companies, SenseTime was part of the original “AI dragons,” known for facial and image recognition technology. 

Since then, the company has expanded into a range of AI-driven applications, including autonomous driving, medical imaging, and smart city technology. 

SenseTime now holds some 16% of the Chinese large language model (LLM) market, making it a key player in both AI research and commercial applications. 

Despite facing U.S. export restrictions, SenseTime continues to thrive, pushing its AI capabilities beyond image recognition into areas like generative AI and large-scale language models.

Huawei

Huawei has released its Pangu large language model (LLM) and Ascend AI chips. Released in July 2023, the Pangu 3.0 model excels in Chinese language tasks. 

Additionally, Huawei’s Ascend 9XX series chips outpace Nvidia’s China-specific GPUs in some benchmarks, supporting AI development for a range of companies, including some on this list. 

Baichuan Intelligent

An upcoming key player in China’s AI ecosystem, Baichuan Intelligent, has gained attention for its advancements in large language models (LLMs). 

Founded by Wang Xiaochuan, Baichuan is focused on developing generative AI solutions that excel in Chinese language processing. 

After securing funding from major investors like Tencent and Alibaba, Baichuan is positioning itself for rapid growth. 

Tencent

The internet and gaming giant unveiled its Hunyuan AI model in September 2023. 

Hunyuan boasts strong Chinese language processing abilities, advanced logical reasoning, and reliable task execution capabilities. 

It’s available for enterprises to test and build applications, potentially opening up new avenues for AI integration across various industries.

Moonshot AI

This Beijing-based startup has developed Kimi, a popular chatbot powered by the company’s large language model. 

Moonshot AI has also dipped its toes into the U.S. market with products like Ohai, a role-play chat app, and Noisee, a music video generator. 

However, the company has stated it currently doesn’t plan to develop or release products outside of China, focusing instead on the domestic market.

MiniMax

Shanghai-based MiniMax entered the US market with Talkie, an AI character chatbot similar to Character.ai. 

Their success is notable – the Chinese version of their chatbot had almost 2.2 million total visits worldwide from March to May 2023, according to Similarweb data.

Zhipu AI

Founded in 2019, Zhipu AI offers a range of AI products, including a chatbot and a visual language foundation model. 

As one of the first Chinese AI companies to receive government approval for publicly releasing its models, Zhipu AI has attracted investment from major players like Alibaba, Tencent, and Saudi Arabia’s Prosperity7 Ventures.

Kuaishou

Kuaishou released Kling, the first free-to-the-public text-to-video model.

Kling can create high-quality videos of up to two minutes in length, offering a frame rate of 30 frames per second and a maximum resolution of 1080p. It also supports multiple aspect ratios, making it versatile for different video formats and platforms.

iFlytek

A partially state-owned company, iFlytek launched its Spark Big Model V4.0, claiming superior performance in several international benchmarks. 

Challenges and opportunities for Chinese AI

Despite these advancements, Chinese AI development continues to face challenges. 

China was among the first countries (if not the first) to impose strict AI regulations, with AI models requiring state permission before going public. 

US export controls on advanced chips have forced companies to seek alternative solutions. This created a blackmarket for high-end chips in the Chinese market and has seen Chinese companies seek chips through the Middle East.

Some firms, like ByteDance and Baidu, are designing their own chips to address this issue. 

This has sparked a wave of innovation and self-reliance in China’s tech sector, with the country aiming to become independent from foreign imports this decade.

China’s progress in AI is certainly attracting international attention. Benchmark tests have shown that some Chinese models are performing exceptionally well, with models like Alibaba’s Qwen impressing AI researchers globally. 

This challenges the notion that US chip restrictions would greatly hamper Chinese AI development.

While Western companies like OpenAI and Google remain at the cutting edge of AI, Chinese alternatives are making their mark on the global stage. 

Rather than the US keeping them ‘one generation behind,’ as has been the tactic for years, Chinese tech companies are going toe-to-toe with the biggest US corporations. 

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