China Joins Large Language Model Craze
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China has already released over 70 artificial intelligence large language models (LLMs), with more applications being filed every day.
Robin Li, CEO of Baidu said at an industry event in Beijing that more than 70 LLMs have been released in China, which include chatbots from the facial recognition company SenseTime and AI startups Baichuan Intelligent Technology, Zhipu AI, and MiniMax.
iFlytek, a company best known for its voice recognition technology, announced that it will be launching its “Spark” AI model, and 360 Security Technology, which is best known for its antivirus software, launched its AI model “Zhinao”.
According to Cybernews, Baidu’s latest AI chatbot “Ernie 3.5” has twice the processing speed of its previous version and 50% improved efficiency, and Li further revealed that Baidu is planning to launch a new version in the near future.
Different from other countries, companies in China are required to submit security assessments and receive clearance before they make their AI products widely available for use. Reportedly, Chinese authorities have recently raised their efforts to support companies that are developing AI, as the technology increasingly becomes a focus of competition with the United States. Just last week Baidu and SenseTime announced that they had received government approval to launch their ChatGPT-style chatbots.
Concerningly, several Chinese tech giants (such as Alibaba and Huawei) have already filed over a hundred applications for approval from China’s cyberspace regulator, all related to deepfake technology.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published a list of companies waiting for approval that they comply with the rules governing the use of deepfake technology set out by the agency, and while this approval process is separate from the standard regulation of Chinese tech firms producing generative AI products, the new surge of applications reflects a growing interest from Chinese firms in tech that can manipulate visual, audio and other data, which has experts worldwide worried.
