Ant Group Developing Advanced Language Model Technology with Support from Jack Ma
Ant Group Co., which is supported by Jack Ma, is working on advanced language model technology to fuel ChatGPT-like services, as part of a group of Chinese firms vying for an advantage in the field of next-generation artificial intelligence.
The project, known as “Zhen Yi”, is being created by a dedicated unit and will utilize in-house research. An Ant spokesperson confirmed the news, which was first reported by Chinastarmarket.cn
Ant competes against companies including its affiliate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Baidu Inc. and SenseTime Group Inc. Their efforts mirror developments in the United States, where Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp. are exploring generative artificial intelligence that can create original content from poetry to art with only simple user prompts.
Artificial intelligence has become the next big arena in the technology competition between China and the United States, raising concerns about whether Chinese companies will be able to maintain reliable access to the high-end chips needed to develop large-scale AI models in the long term.
Ant invested nearly 20.5 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in R&D last year, doubling the company’s annual investment in these efforts compared to 2019. The company is strengthening distributed database technology, computer infrastructure, blockchain, privacy protection and network security.
