Alibaba Unveils Upgraded AI Model Tongyi Qianwen with Hundreds of Billions of Parameters
Alibaba, the Chinese tech giant, has announced a major update for its AI model, Tongyi Qianwen, making it one of the most powerful AI models in the world. The latest version of Tongyi Qianwen, called Tongyi Qianwen 2.0, now has “hundreds of billions of” parameters, a measure of the model’s capabilities.
During Alibaba’s annual conference in Hangzhou, the company also unveiled eight industry-specific AI models. These models cater to the entertainment, finance, healthcare, and legal industries, offering dedicated tools for tasks such as generating graphics, writing code, analyzing financial data, and conducting legal research. These tools have been made available online following the announcement.
Compared to other AI models, Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen stands out with its impressive capabilities. In 2020, Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3 had 175 billion parameters, while Meta Platform’s Llama 2 model had 70 billion parameters this year.
Forbes describes Tongyi Qianwen as a question-and-answer chatbot with coding capabilities, similar to its competitors like ChatGPT. What sets Tongyi Qianwen apart is that it is an open-source model, freely available to the public and can be updated by anyone. In contrast, other models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 are not open-source. The advantage of open-sourcing the technology is that it allows for integration and improvements from developers worldwide.
Alibaba’s cloud computing arm has partnered with organizations such as OPPO, Taobao, DingTalk, and Zhejiang University to train their own large language models or develop language model applications using Tongyi Qianwen. According to Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai, around half of China’s large-language AI models currently run on Alibaba Cloud. The Alibaba AI community ModelScope boasts 2,300 models and 2.7 million developers.
Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu has emphasized the company’s customer-centric and AI-driven approach as its top priorities.
The release of Tongyi Qianwen 2.0 and the industry-specific AI models is part of China’s ongoing “War of a Hundred Models.” This term, coined by Tencent vice president Jiang Jie, refers to the intense competition in the Chinese AI sector to develop and deploy generative AI models. Triggered by the success of ChatGPT, startups and tech giants in China have been announcing new AI products almost daily. Alibaba’s rival, Tencent, has also joined the race with its Hunyuan AI model, which has more than 100 billion parameters, surpassing OpenAI’s GPT-4 in Chinese processing.
China currently has at least 130 large language models, accounting for 40% of the global total, second only to the United States. This data, provided by brokerage CLSA, highlights the significant presence and advancements in the Chinese AI industry.
Overall, Alibaba’s advancements in AI technology and the release of its powerful AI models further solidify its position as a leading player in the global AI market.
Sources:
– Reuters: Alibaba Upgrades AI Model Tongyi Qianwen, Releases Industry-Specific Models
– Forbes: The Amazing Ways Chinese Tech Giant Alibaba Uses Generative Artificial Intelligence
– Reuters: Alibaba Opens AI Model Tongyi Qianwen to Public
– Tech Times: China May Blacklist Illegal AI Training Data
– Tech Times: China Tech War: China’s Zhipu AI Raises $340 Million to Fuel AI Advancements Amid Chip Restrictions
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