Alibaba plans co-pilot tech amidst China's generative AI scrutiny

In recent months, the two largest economies in the world have been competing to demonstrate their capabilities in generative AI.

ChatGPT, Bing, and Midjourney are among the many popular generative AI models that have attracted millions of users worldwide. Chinese entrepreneurs are now striving to catch up with their American counterparts. Baidu has already launched its own version of ChatGPT.

Alibaba, another Chinese tech giant, announced its latest generative AI effort, which is similar to Microsoft's Copilot. Copilot utilizes AI to simplify the use of Microsoft's suite of apps by allowing users to describe what they want to create in natural language.

On Tuesday, Alibaba revealed that its large language model, Tongyi Qianwen, will be integrated into all of the company's businesses to enhance the user experience. Additionally, customers and developers can develop customized AI features by utilizing the model.

Alibaba is a massive e-commerce and cloud computing conglomerate with a diverse range of business lines, from food delivery and video streaming to enterprise communication and flight booking. Based on Alibaba's statement, it appears that all of these services are prepared for AI disruption.

The company has already utilized natural language in two applications. In a pre-recorded demonstration, Alibaba exhibited how its Slack-like workplace chat app, Dingtalk, employs Tongyi Qianwen to summarize chat history, generate corporate culture slogans, write meeting minutes, and convert handwritten charts to mini apps. The LLM will also be integrated into Tmall Genie, the smart voice assistant for Alibaba's high-end online retailer.

"We are at a technological watershed moment driven by generative AI and cloud computing, and businesses across all sectors have started to embrace intelligence transformation to stay ahead of the game," stated Daniel Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.

The full range of Alibaba's AI-powered products has yet to be seen or tested, so it is too early to determine how effective these upgraded services are. However, there are already restrictions on how AI can be utilized across internet services.

On the same day that Alibaba revealed its ambitious AI plans, China's top internet regulator published draft measures to govern how tech companies should use generative AI models to serve users. The proposed regulations were expected and are largely in line with previous laws enacted to regulate other AI-related aspects. For example, the draft regulations mandate that AI service providers must register their algorithms with the internet authority, authenticate users' identities, and maintain a record of their data input, such as AI prompts.