Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, recently announced that its large language model called Tongyi Qianwen will be accessible to the public and enterprises in China starting September 13. Tongyi Qianwen is an artificial intelligence (AI) system similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, capable of understanding and generating text in both English and Chinese. While the exact specifications of the model are unknown, there were rumors that it could have as many as 10 trillion parameters, ten times more than OpenAI’s GPT4. Prior to this announcement, Alibaba had released two open-source models based on the Tongyi Qianwen architecture, each with 7 billion parameters.
Previously, access to the Tongyi Qianwen model was limited to a select group of users during its beta testing phase. The decision to make it available to a wider audience aligns with recent changes in regulations concerning the use of AI technologies in China. In June, the Chinese government published guidelines requiring a special vetting and certification process for all AI technologies released to the public. These regulations came into effect on August 15, and several Chinese companies, including Baidu, Tencent, TikTok, and ByteDance, received approval to launch their AI models.
The updated restrictions also include provisions such as prohibiting the generation of images resembling President Xi Jinping and requiring organizations to address objectionable content within three months. Previous versions of the legislation had proposed monetary fines, but those plans were eventually dropped. While China is exploring more relaxed regulations, the United States has only taken preliminary steps towards regulating AI technologies. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently hosted a forum with top U.S. tech CEOs and founders to discuss potential policy ideas for regulating the fast-moving AI industry.
Alibaba’s launch of Tongyi Qianwen demonstrates the company’s commitment to advancing AI technologies and making them more accessible to a wider audience in China. By releasing the model to the public and enterprises, Alibaba aims to encourage further development and innovation in the field of natural language processing. The availability of large language models like Tongyi Qianwen opens up opportunities for businesses and individuals to utilize AI capabilities in various applications, including chatbots, question answering systems, and language translation tools.
As the Chinese government continues to embrace AI technologies and promote their use, the country is positioning itself as a global leader in the field. China’s efforts to regulate and certify AI technologies aim to strike a balance between fostering innovation and ensuring ethical and responsible use of these technologies. With Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen now accessible to a broader audience, it will be interesting to see the impact it has on AI development and applications in China.
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