Alibaba Invites Businesses to Test Its ChatGPT-Like AI Chatbot: Report

The Chinese tech giant is seeking companies to test its Tongyi Qianwen AI chatbot.

By Reuters | Updated: 7 April 2023 15:40 IST

Alibaba Invites Businesses to Test Its ChatGPT-Like AI Chatbot: Report

Photo Credit: Reuters

Alibaba has opened up registration for businesses to test the AI

Highlights

A formal launch is expected at an Alibaba Cloud event on Tuesday
Baidu has also joined the AI chatbot race with its Ernie Bot
Huawei Technologies is due to unveil Pangu, its NLP AI model

Tech giant Alibaba is seeking companies to test its Tongyi Qianwen AI chatbot, business publication STAR Market Daily reported on Friday, joining the rush to emulate the explosive success of ChatGPT.

The free-to-use ChatGPT, a large language model (LLM) application created by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, was released to the public last November and can generate articles and essays on demand in response to user prompts.

Alibaba has opened up registration for businesses to conduct testing for its AI application, STAR Market reported without specifying details.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

A source close to the matter confirmed to Reuters that the application was an LLM targeted at business users.

Alibaba's cloud computing division published a teaser on Friday, posting a message on social media simply stating: "Hello, my name is Tongyi Qianwen, this is our first time meeting, I welcome your feedback."

The official website for the chatbot application merely has boxes to enter phone numbers and email addresses to request an invitation but provides no specific details about its exact use.

'Twitter Verified' Account is Now Following No One

Alibaba Cloud did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment.

A formal launch is expected at an Alibaba Cloud event on Tuesday. Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group as well as the company's cloud division, is scheduled to speak at the event.

Others to have joined the AI chatbot race include Baidu, with its Ernie Bot application open only to trial users at the moment.

Microsoft Says India Is Among Top 3 Markets for ChatGPT-Powered Bing

On Saturday network gear maker Huawei Technologies is due to stage an event unveiling Pangu, its natural language processing (NLP) AI model.

SenseTime is also holding an event next week to showcase "cutting-edge advancements in artificial intelligence software".

Last week Alibaba announced that it will restructure into six standalone divisions, each with its own board and CEO. Zhang is set to stay as the cloud division's CEO.

Smartphone companies have launched many compelling devices over the first quarter of 2023. What are some of the best phones launched in 2023 you can buy today? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.