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Tencent’s ChatGPT rival gets special task force of executives as it joins Baidu, Alibaba in AI gold rush
- The team behind Tencent’s HunyuanAide chatbot is led by Zhang Zhengyou, who heads the company’s AI Lab and Robotics X Lab
- Tencent is part of a Big Tech race to create a domestic alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has been effectively banned in China
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Iris Dengin Shenzhen
Chinese social media and video gaming giant Tencent Holdings has set up a team led by its top scientist to develop a ChatGPT-like product, Chinese media outlet 36Kr reported on Monday, as the country’s largest tech firms including Baidu and Alibaba Group Holding rush to develop domestic artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.
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The team behind HunyuanAide, as Tencent has named the bot, is a cross-departmental effort led by Zhang Zhengyou, who heads the company’s AI Lab and Robotics X Lab. Other members include company executives from its strategy and development unit, data platform, Tencent Cloud and video gaming unit, according to an organisation chart published by 36kr. A person familiar with the matter confirmed work on the HunyuanAide project.
The chatbot will be powered by Tencent’s AI model Hunyuan, which specialises in computer vision and natural language processing (NLP), 36kr reported.
When asked about the project, Tencent reiterated a previous statement about the company plans to start working on ChatGPT-related technologies based on current AI models, including machine learning and NLP.
A slew of Chinese tech companies and universities have announced plans to develop or apply ChatGPT-style services to create China’s answer to the hit chatbot created by San Francisco-based start-up OpenAI.
Baidu, China’s internet search giant, announced its ChatGPT rival Ernie Bot could be released as early as March, with the aim of using it in an array of services from search and cloud computing to the Apollo autonomous driving platform.
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Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, owner of the Post, said earlier this month that it is testing a ChatGPT-like service through its research institute Damo Academy.
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