The rise of ChatGPT is making waves across the world, and even Chinese internet users, who are not allowed to access the OpenAI chatbot, are interested, as reported by South China Morning Post.
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Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Modern Life, Search, and Devices, speaks during a keynote address announcing ChatGPT integration for Bing at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, on February 7, 2023.
The Chinese government is trying to block access to ChatGPT, but it seems this will not stop big tech firms in the country from accessinging the technology.
Chinese Big Tech Firms Work on ChatGPT-Like Tools
Internet search giant Baidu has announced Ernie Bot, a ChatGPT rival. It was in early 2019 when they launched the NLP framework called Ernie, which stands for Enhanced Representation through kNowledge IntEgration. According to Baidu researchers, Ernie performs better than Google's Bert when it comes to Chinese language tasks.
The company will finish its internal testing for the bot in March, but a lot of companies have already expressed interest in using the chatbot for their services.
Ecommerce giant Alibaba has also announced that they are developing their own ChatGPT tool, but it is not known whether it will be available in DingTalk. Similar to Baidu, Alibaba spent years working on generative AI and LLMs. They also applied for technology patents that are designed to improve human-machine communications by using pre-trained language models and systems.
There is also Tencent Holdings which seems to be keeping a low profile when it comes to ChatGPT. So far, it has only hinted that it has relevant technologies to support AI-generated content.
Tencent will continue to invest in cutting-edge technologies, such as AI, and further explore these areas based on their knowledge of LLMs, machine learning, and NLP.
Bytedance, the owner of TikTok, is also in the early stages of research on language and imaging AI. They haven't officially confirmed or denied the reports that they are working on their own ChatGPT-like service.
iFlytek has the only state-backed research facility, the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Intelligence, and is confident in making a breakthrough in LLMs. According to the company, they have already gathered a language database of over 50 terabytes through years of operations.
Also read: AI-Written e-Books on Amazon Grows, ChatGPT is the Author
The Growing Interest in ChatGPT-Like Technologies
The rise of ChatGPT-like technologies has already attracted the attention of many tech giants. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are all exploring the potential of the technology, while Apple is reportedly developing a similar feature.
ChatGPT's potential lies in its ability to understand natural language and generate human-like responses. This could be used to create virtual assistants for online customer service or to power chatbots for a variety of applications.
The technology could also be used to create more engaging conversations between humans and computers, as well as to improve the accuracy of machine translation services.
In addition, ChatGPT-like technologies could be used to build virtual agents that can carry out tasks such as scheduling meetings and making travel arrangements.
The possibilities for ChatGPT-like technologies are endless, and many of the world's tech giants will likely continue to invest in the technology to ensure they remain at the forefront of the industry.
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