Alibaba has announced its decision to make its artificial intelligence (AI) model, Tongyi Qianwen, available to the public. This move is seen as a reflection of the Chinese regulatory approval and Alibaba's commitment to advancing AI technology. The decision aligns with China's intensified efforts to strengthen its AI development, positioning itself as a formidable competitor to the United States in the rapidly progressing AI sector.
Alibaba had initially introduced Tongyi Qianwen in April, expressing its plan to incorporate this AI large language model, similar to ChatGPT, into all its business applications.
Collaborations and Future Accessibility
The Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Division has disclosed that several prominent organizations, including OPPO, Taobao, DingTalk, and Zhejiang University, have entered into collaboration agreements with Alibaba. These collaborations aim to either develop their own large language models or design language model applications leveraging Tongyi Qianwen.
#Alibaba's #AI model Tongyi Qianwen was opened to the public today, Alibaba Cloud announced. Users can visit the Tongyi Qianwen official website to experience its capabilities, while enterprises can access its API via Alibaba Cloud. @alibaba_cloud @AlibabaGroup pic.twitter.com/zUyBN8O20T
— Yicai 第一财经 (@yicaichina) September 13, 2023
This indicates the increasing interest across various sectors in utilizing AI language models for a range of applications. Furthermore, Alibaba has hinted at a broader accessibility plan, revealing that an open-source version of this large language model will soon be available for free commercial use, emphasizing the company's dedication to democratizing AI technology.
Tongyi Qianwen, which translates roughly to “Truth from a Thousand Questions”, is a large language model that can understand and generate natural language based on massive amounts of data. The chatbot is developed by Alibaba's advanced research institute, the DAMO Academy.
Leadership Changes and AI's Central Role
Alibaba's leadership structure has recently been shaken up, with Daniel Zhang, the former group CEO and head of Alibaba's Cloud division, stepping down. He was succeeded by Eddie Wu, the newly appointed Alibaba Group CEO. In a communication to Alibaba's staff, Eddie Wu stressed the pivotal role of AI in shaping the company's future direction. He remarked, “Over the next decade, the most significant change agent will be the disruptions brought about by AI across all sectors.”
