Alibaba Cloud has announced the launch of its own ChatGPT-style product, Tongyi Qianwen. The AI-powered chatbot will have the ability to understand both English and Chinese languages and will initially be implemented on Alibaba’s DingTalk and Tmall Genie platforms. The chatbot will be integrated into all Alibaba products from e-commerce to enterprise communication in the near future. Tongyi Qianwen is part of Alibaba’s effort to compete with other Chinese technology giants such as Baidu and NetEase in the ChatGPT market.
Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, announced on April 12th, 2023 that it will release a new product called Tongyi Qianwen. This product is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot that possesses the ability to understand both English and Chinese languages. It will initially be implemented on Alibaba’s DingTalk, a communication software platform, and Tmall Genie, a provider of smart home appliances. Tongyi Qianwen will be integrated into all Alibaba products from e-commerce to enterprise communication in the near future, according to Alibaba. The company did not reveal a timeline for the implementation.
Alibaba Cloud will provide its customers with access to Tongyi Qianwen on the cloud, allowing them to construct customised large language models. Additionally, the chatbot will be “fine-tuned” with proprietary data and information from clients, potentially reducing resources and costs for businesses. Alibaba Cloud’s enterprise clients in China will be able to access the beta version of Tongyi Qianwen.
The release of Tongyi Qianwen is a response to the increasing trend of generative AI and cloud computing. According to Daniel Zhang, chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, this technology is transforming businesses in all sectors, making it necessary for companies to embrace intelligence transformation to stay ahead of the competition. Jingren Zhou, CTO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, stated that Tongyi Qianwen will help businesses achieve their intelligence transformation goals, ultimately boosting their productivity and unlocking more opportunities through innovation.
The development of Tongyi Qianwen is part of Alibaba’s effort to compete with other Chinese technology giants such as Baidu and NetEase, who have also announced their intentions to launch ChatGPT-style products. Baidu released its own ChatGPT version called Ernie Bot in March.
Alibaba has maintained its position as the third leading public cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) provider globally since 2018, according to International Data Corporation. Furthermore, Alibaba is the third leading IaaS provider in Asia Pacific and the world, ranked by revenue in U.S. dollars since 2018, according to technology research firm Gartner.
