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The optimistic outlook is not unwarranted. While open-source models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Sora are currently ahead, they are quickly narrowing the gap. Many Chinese products rely on Meta Platforms’ Llama 2 model, which is freely accessible and may lag behind OpenAI’s latest advancements by approximately a year, according to some estimates.
The open-source aspect of AI development in China presents a promising trajectory. Recently announced, a collaboration between professors at Peking University and the Shenzhen-based AI company RabbitPre aims to replicate Sora as an open-source model.
This landscape also offers opportunities for startups striving to establish themselves in a tech giant-dominated industry. AIsphere, established in Beijing by a former ByteDance executive, secured a substantial $14 million in a recent funding round following the launch of a video generator in January.
OpenAI’s Sora Challenges China’s AI Aspirations
The corporate sphere is still navigating the potential benefits of AI and how they can be effectively realized. In the realm of video generation, there is an opportunity to revolutionize aspects of social media content creation.
Although still in its early stages, this technology is already being utilized by studios in China. Collaborative efforts between State broadcaster China Media Group (CMG) and Shanghai AI Laboratory (Sail) resulted in a series of 26 seven-minute episodes adapted from classical Chinese poetry called Qianqiu Shisong, shared on WeChat. The AI was trained on CMG’s videos and audio, utilized for tasks ranging from art design to video production for the show, as per Sail.
State Television Airs Chinese AI-Generated Cartoon Series
The outcomes resemble the quality of top online Flash animations from the early 2000s, attracting viewers with the promise of further advancements in the future.
However, the discrepancy in AI quality between the US and China remains evident in the global tech competition. Despite the concerns surrounding video-generating AI models, the obstacles for Chinese developers persist. They are still deprived of access to the high-end silicon crucial for training advanced GenAI models.
Washington and Beijing Navigate AI Discussions
For now, one potential avenue for Chinese platforms is to adopt Sora once it becomes publicly accessible. A Chinese fintech company claimed priority access to Sora upon its availability on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud platform. Given Microsoft’s utilization of OpenAI’s technology for its Copilot AI, the Chinese firm Sinodata has become part of the US tech giant’s Cloud Partner Programme.
This position, however, is precarious. Threats from Washington to restrict American AI platforms from serving Chinese clients, coupled with Beijing’s efforts to limit access to models developed overseas due to strict content regulations, pose challenges.
AI’s Role in Ethical Debates and Commercial Realities
Concerns about misinformation dissemination through AI persist, prompting countries to seek ethical guidelines for AI usage. Despite these concerns, the commercial advantages of products like Sora are already tangible. Given the time-intensive nature of video production, any technology expediting this process is likely to be embraced as a valuable advancement.
The difficulty in preventing companies from training their models on diverse datasets is highlighted by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. He suggests that this approach could potentially bridge international boundaries, fostering collaboration.
Thus, in this sector, cutting-edge models may currently serve as supplementary tools rather than essential ones.
60-Second Recap
In-Depth Insights
OpenAI’s recent text-to-video model, Sora, has underscored China’s lag in top-tier AI technologies, prompting reflections on the absence of a comparable product and echoing previous introspection following the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.
China’s ambition to lead the global AI race through data-driven applications like facial recognition has faced challenges with the rise of generative AI, positioning the country as a follower once more.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is intensifying efforts in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) projects to narrow the gap with rivals like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sora.
Liang Rubo, the current CEO of ByteDance, has outlined key objectives for advancing GenAI initiatives, focusing on talent acquisition, organizational enhancement, and research development.
The US and China share mutual interests in deliberating on automated weapons, AI applications, and associated risks, although aligning military objectives in upcoming talks remains uncertain.
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Photo: Reuters
Employers in China are scrambling for talent with skills in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), the technology underpinning a new generation of highly intelligent chatbots led by Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Computer vision engineers with GenAI skills are being offered an average annual salary of more than 480,000 yuan (US$66,700), about two-thirds higher than the 290,000 yuan earned by their peers without such knowledge, according to a recent report published by Chinese recruitment agency Liepin.
Photo: Shutterstock
The 2024 Apple Scholars in AIML PhD fellowship – focused on machine learning, a branch of AI concerned with developing algorithms and statistical models for computer systems – shows that 11 of the 21 admitted to the programme were of Chinese origin, based on their names and academic background that include bachelor’s level studies on the mainland, according to a list published on Tuesday by Apple on its website.
Photo: Brilliant Labs
Singapore-based smart lenses start-up Brilliant Labs has become the latest company to introduce a pair of smart glasses, as a slew of tech companies, including several in China, try to make wearing glasses “cool”.
The company’s new Frame smart glasses, announced on Friday, are imbued with a custom artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assistant called Noa, which corrals many large language models (LLMs) to find one that is the best fit for a given query. By putting this tech into slim frames that can be worn all day, Brilliant Labs, founded in Hong Kong in 2019, is jumping on the smart eyewear trend that has also drawn in several Chinese companies looking to capitalise on a market expected to boom this year thanks to the entry of Apple with its much larger Vision Pro mixed reality headset.
The telecommunications industry is rushing to explore the potential of generative artificial intelligence (AI), and Chinese equipment suppliers Huawei Technologies and ZTE have joined the pack with their own industry-specific models shown at MWC Barcelona this week.
At the event, the world’s biggest trade show for the mobile industry, Huawei launched its self-developed AI model specifically for telecoms service providers.
China is expected to “work within those constraints and try to make progress” by tapping into domestic AI accelerator programmes and being more economical in using computing resources, said Nicolas Gaudois, head of Asia-Pacific technology research at UBS, during a webinar hosted by the bank on Tuesday.
Photo: Handout
A version of this article was first published by The Korea Times in a partnership with the South China Morning Post.
In an office building in southern Seoul, a dozen chips were laid side by side on shelves, each next to their own electric fan to cool them down as they operate.
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