Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, has made a strategic move into the field of artificial intelligence (AI) by launching an open-source AI chatbot. The company aims to provide researchers and companies with a powerful tool for developing their own AI applications without the need to train their own models.
The chatbot, called Tongyi Qianwen, was first introduced by Alibaba in April, and its success has prompted the company to release an open-source version to the public. The open-source platform will consist of two lite models of Tongyi Qianwen, named Qwen-7B and Qwen-7B-Chat. With a staggering 7 billion parameters, these large language models (LLMs) will enable AI experts to code and develop their own AI offerings more easily.
Alibaba’s open-source LLMs will be available for free to academics, researchers, and commercial institutions worldwide, offering extensive documentation and support. Although it remains unclear whether the open-source offering will be entirely free for all users, companies with over 100 million monthly customers will need to obtain a royalty-free license from Alibaba.
By providing an open-source platform, Alibaba aims to attract a broader user base, potentially leading to partnerships with global cloud providers. The move puts Alibaba in direct competition with Meta, which recently released its own open-source generative AI platform.
Meanwhile, a coalition of software firms, led by GitHub, is urging for relaxed regulations on open-source AI development. With the European Union (EU) preparing to introduce comprehensive legislation for AI, these firms argue that strict rules could hinder innovation in the field. They believe that open source is crucial for responsible AI development and caution against regulations that may stifle progress.
As the AI race heats up, companies like Alibaba are taking strategic steps to stay ahead. By leveraging open-source technology and collaborating with the research community, Alibaba aims to foster innovation and drive advancements in AI. With its latest move, the company is poised to shape the future of AI development and attract potential partnerships, putting it in a strong position in the competitive AI landscape.
