Coinspeaker
Alibaba Makes AI Model Tongyi Qianwen Open to Public
Leading Chinese tech company Alibaba has made a significant announcement regarding the accessibility of its AI model Tongyi Qianwen to the public. This decision comes on the heels of what appears to be government approval from the Chinese authorities, allowing the tech giant to make its AI technology available to users. While the Chinese government supports the use of AI, it has implemented regulations to ensure that it is not misused for activities that may disrupt national peace or involve illegal conduct.
Tongyi Qianwen, developed by Alibaba DAMO Academy, shares similarities in functionality with ChatGPT. Initially introduced by Alibaba in April, this AI was designed to assist its businesses by comprehending and executing human instructions, making it a valuable assistant capable of generating innovative ideas. The AI is built upon Tongyi, Alibaba’s exclusive pretrained AI framework that encompasses a range of models, including those capable of transforming text into images and short videos.
Alibaba has outlined its vision for the AI, stating that “Tongyi Qianwen will be seamlessly integrated into all business applications across Alibaba’s ecosystem in the near future. This integration aims to enhance user experiences in various domains, from enterprise communication and intelligent voice assistance to e-commerce, search, navigation, and entertainment.”
Tongyi Qianwen Is Now Available to the Public
In a recent announcement on the company’s social media platform, WeChat, Alibaba Cloud, the division responsible for AI, unveiled the launch of Tongyi Qianwen and its partnerships with other notable organizations such as OPPO, Taobao, DingTalk, and Zhejiang University. This collaboration will grant these organizations access to Tongyi Qianwen, enabling them to develop their own AI language models or create applications based on it. Furthermore, it was revealed that a free public open-source version of this substantial language model would be accessible.
In a letter addressed to Alibaba employees, the newly appointed CEO of Alibaba Group, Eddie Wu, underscored the pivotal role that AI would play in the company’s future strategy. He emphasized:
“Over the next decade, the most significant transformative force will be the disruptions brought about by AI across all sectors. If we fail to keep pace with the changes of the AI era, we risk becoming obsolete.”
Alibaba’s development of AI offers significant benefits to the strength of the Chinese technology sector. By making Tongyi Qianwen accessible to the Chinese community, there is potential for widespread innovation if used correctly. This open access to advanced AI capabilities allows businesses to seamlessly integrate them into their applications, thereby improving their day-to-day business activities.
Many other companies are also joining the AI creation trend. Baidu and SenseTime have also unveiled their own ChatGPT-style AI models, named Ernie Bot and SenseChat, respectively.
