Tongyi Qianwen is “the big picture for making AI more popular in the future,” said CEO Daniel Zhang.
Shanghai:
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd showed off its generative AI model on Tuesday – its version of the technology that powers chatbot sensation ChatGPT – and said it will be integrated into all of the company’s apps in the near future.
An AI large-language model called Tongyi Qianwen drafted invitations, planned itineraries and advised shoppers on the types of makeup to shop in the filmed display.
Tongyi Qianwen will initially be integrated into Alibaba’s workplace messaging app DingTalk and can be used to summarize meeting notes, compose emails and draft business proposals. It will also be added to Alibaba’s voice assistant Tmall Genie.
The technology “will drive major changes to the way we produce, the way we work, and the way we live our lives,” CEO Daniel Zhang told a livestreamed event.
AI models like Tongyi Qianwen “are the big picture for making AI more popular in the future,” he said.
The cloud unit of the Chinese internet giant plans to open Tongyi Qianwen to customers to build their own customized big language models and on Friday opened registration for Tongyi Qianwen.
Global interest in generative AI, which learns how to take action from past data to create new content, has grown since the release of ChatGPT by Microsoft-backed OpenAI late last year.
Several Chinese companies have revealed or teased AI models and chatbots. Search giant Baidu Inc announced its Ernie Bot chatbot earlier this year. The bot is open to test users only at this time. On Monday, Chinese AI company SenseTime unveiled several new AI products, including a chatbot called SenseChat.
Zhang said Alibaba and other companies working on AI models were at the “starting line” of a new phenomenon.
“Seizing this opportunity is a common desire of all of us,” he said.
Alibaba shares rose 1.5% in Hong Kong trade while the broader market was flat. Shares of SenseTime initially rose but later ended down 2.7%.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)