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Artificial intelligence
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China’s Big Tech bosses take different business approaches towards generative AI like ChatGPT

  • Tencent CEO Pony Ma Huateng and Sohu CEO Charles Zhang Chaoyang have taken a more measured approach
  • In contrast, Baidu CEO Robin Li Yanhong and Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang Yong are quickly pushing new products through the pipeline

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China’s tech CEOs are taking different approaches towards ChatGPT and related AI technologies. Photo: Reuters
Iris Dengin ShenzhenandBen Jiangin Beijing

China’s Big Tech bosses are displaying conflicting views towards artificial intelligence (AI), as some eagerly embrace the advancing technology while others warn against hasty adoption amid the frenzy around ChatGPT.

Pony Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of social media and video gaming giant Tencent Holdings, said his company would take a more measured approach in launching generative AI products, despite the potential opportunities.

“I think a lot of companies are in too much of a rush, trying to boost their share prices. That has not been our style all along,” Ma was quoted as saying at the company’s shareholder meeting on Wednesday in a report by Chinese media outlet Thepaper.cn.

Pony Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent, delivers a speech during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in 2018. Photo: STR/AFP
Pony Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent, delivers a speech during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in 2018. Photo: STR/AFP
Tencent, which reported an 11 per cent jump in revenue for the first quarter, said in its earnings report that it was investing in AI capabilities and cloud infrastructure, and expects AI to be a “growth multiplier”. The company is currently working on its own foundational AI model called Hunyuan.

However, Ma said Tencent was in no rush to launch unfinished products.

“[AI] is a once-in-a-century opportunity like the invention of electricity during the industrial revolution,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things, introducing the light bulb a month earlier wasn’t that important. The key [for us now] is to build a solid foundation of algorithms, computing power, data and more importantly, use cases.”

Ma’s caution was echoed by Charles Zhang Chaoyang, founder and CEO of news portal Sohu.com, who also warned against blindly following trends.

Charles Zhang Chaoyang, Founder and CEO of Sohu, gives a speech at the China Internet Conference in Beijing in 2014. Photo: Shutterstock
Charles Zhang Chaoyang, Founder and CEO of Sohu, gives a speech at the China Internet Conference in Beijing in 2014. Photo: Shutterstock
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