- Alibaba Group is developing a ChatGPT-style tool for internal testing.
- Other Chinese tech companies such as Baidu, JD.com, and NetEase are also looking to integrate similar technology.
- The development has caused a surge in the stock prices of several Chinese Al technology companies.
Alibaba Group has announced that it is developing a ChatGPT-style tool that is currently undergoing internal testing. This puts the Chinese e-commerce giant in competition with tech companies globally to prove their proficiency in generative artificial intelligence (AI).
The news was reported by the 21st Century Herald newspaper, which stated that Alibaba is developing a ChatGPT-like dialogue robot that is currently open to employees for testing. When questioned about the report, which also suggested that Alibaba might integrate the technology with its communication app DingTalk, the company declined to comment.
Focused on Large Language Models and Generative AI
Alibaba has stated that it has been focused on large language models and generative AI for a number of years. Large language models are natural language processing systems that are trained on vast amounts of text and are capable of answering and comprehending questions, as well as generating new text.
Following the announcement, Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares rose 3.2% in premarket trading.
Investor Excitement Over Open.Ai's ChatGPT
Shares in several Chinese AI technology companies have been soaring in recent days due to investor excitement over Open.Ai's ChatGPT. This chatbot can generate articles, essays, and jokes in response to prompts and has been rated the fastest-growing consumer app in history.
Companies like Baidu and JD.com have also announced their plans to integrate ChatGPT-like technology into their products. Baidu's shares jumped 15% after it announced plans to complete testing of its "Ernie bot" in March. Meanwhile, JD.com stated that it is looking to integrate some methods and technology similar to ChatGPT's into its products, such as its e-commerce platform's customer service.
Other major tech companies like Microsoft, Alphabet, and NetEase are also getting in on the action. Microsoft, which owns Open.AI, plans to integrate ChatGPT with its search engine Bing. Alphabet plans to use more artificial intelligence for its search engine, and NetEase, the Chinese gaming company, plans to deploy similar large language models technology to serve its education business.
