Chinese tech giant Alibaba has unveiled its newest innovation – an AI chatbot called Tongyi Qianwen. The software, which is available in both Chinese and English, will be integrated into several of Alibaba’s products like DingTalk, its workplace messaging app, and Tmall Genie, a voice assistant similar to Amazon’s Alexa. The aim of this chatbot is to rival Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s popular AI system, ChatGPT.
Alibaba’s chairman and chief executive, Daniel Zhang, spoke at the Tongyi Qianwen launch event in Hong Kong. Zhang claimed that the technology would be a “technological watershed moment driven by generative AI and cloud computing”. After this launch, numerous other companies have followed suit by announcing their own generative AI chatbots.
Both Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google have included ChatGPT into their respective software and search engines. In addition, Baidu, a Chinese technology group, has released its own AI-based models.
The Chinese Cyberspace Administration of China issued draft regulations for generative AI tools, where companies will be held liable for the accuracy of the data used to train their software. Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak also penned an open letter regarding the potential risks of AI to humanity, leading to a discussion of the regulation of AI systems.
Furthermore, the Goldman Sachs investigations report predicted that AI could replace around 300 million full-time jobs. Italy is the first country in the West to block ChatGPT citing related privacy issues.
Alibaba is a renowned Chinese multinational technology company that has spawned multiple successful businesses since its beginnings in 1999. Founded by Jack Ma and four other associates, it serves as an e-commerce, retail, internet, mobile payments, technology, and cloud computing conglomerate. It acquired multiple companies and expanded internationally, becoming one of the largest companies in Asia.
Daniel Zhang serves as the executive chairman of Alibaba since May 2019 and is known for his part in Alibaba’s record-breaking IPO process. Before becoming CEO in 2015, Zhang was president and a board director, where he was the executive leader of the Alibaba group’s core commerce business until its split between the company’s retail and wholesale units. He is among the first entrepreneurs to be included in Beijing’s ‘Leaders and Pioneers’ roster.
