Four Chinese Technology Companies Launch Artificial Intelligence Chatbots To The Public

JAKARTA - Four Chinese technology companies, including Baidu Inc and SenseTime Group, on Thursday, August 32 launched their artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to the public. This comes after they get government approval, in line with the Chinese government's push to expand the use of these kinds of products in competition with the United States.

Baidu, China's leading online search service provider, said in a statement that his ChatGPT-like chatbot, Ernie Bot, is now fully accessible to the public. A SenseTime spokesperson told Reuters via email that their chatbot, SenseChat, is also now "fully available to serve all users".

Two AI startups, Baichuan Intelligent Technology and Zhipu AI, also announced similar public launches on Thursday.

Stocks in Baidu and SenseTime surged in early trading in Hong Kong, each rising 3.1% and 2.7% in a wider market that was down 0.4 percent.

Unlike other countries, China requires companies to submit security assessments and obtain approval before releasing mass AI products.

Authorities have recently accelerated efforts to support companies in developing AI as this technology is increasingly focusing on competition with the United States.

Chinese media reports that a total of 11 companies have received approval from the government, including owners of TikTok, ByteDance, and Tencent Holdings. The two companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on their AI plans.

Some local media say that other tech companies working on AI's big language models, including the Alibaba Group, have yet to obtain government approval. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"In my opinion, those who get the approval have the advantage of being early actors to be able to perfect their products faster than competitors," said Kai Wang, an analyst at Morningstar.

The ChatGPT maker, OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, is on track to generate more than $1 billion in revenue over the next 12 months, as reported by a technology-focused publication, The Information, on Tuesday, August 28.

This approval has been highly anticipated after China issued a number of interim regulations aimed at regulating generative AI products for the public which took effect on August 15.

Previously, companies were only allowed to conduct small-scale public trials of AI products, but with new regulations, the company has expanded their AI product trials by activating more features and marketing more. Previous government approvals were not required for targeted products in the business.

Shawn Yang, an analyst at Blue Lotus Capital Advisors, said the government's move to give the AI product the green light could trigger consolidation in the industry.

"Many people are in a hurry to get into big language model business," he said, "But this industry may be consolidated soon. Only those with data and technology capabilities will be able to push forward."