SenseTime Group Inc., a Chinese AI company, has seen its stock rise 13% on speculation that it intends to launch a large-scale AI model to compete with OpenAI's popular ChatGPT, Bloomberg reports.
According to reports, SenseTime is set to unveil a new generative AI model at an upcoming media event, which may be related to AI-generated content.
This news has piqued the interest of investors closely following the rise of AI and the numerous software companies vying for a piece of the pie in this burgeoning technology space.
Is SenseTime the Next Top AI System?
SenseTime is based in Shanghai and is best known for its artificial intelligence-powered computer vision technology.
According to the company's annual earnings report, released last month, the company has already developed text-to-image large generative models. It is working on a large-language model that will be released in mid-2023.
However, due to US Treasury and Commerce Department sanctions that limit its access to capital and restrict the sale of AI accelerator chips to Chinese customers, SenseTime faces challenges in accessing high-end technology to develop large-scale AI models.
SenseTime and the Chinese AI Landscape
Despite these challenges, SenseTime is backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and SoftBank Group Corp. However, the US sanctions have cast doubt on the future of China's AI efforts.
Baidu Inc. is currently leading the competitive Chinese landscape with its offering, Ernie Bot, which has received mixed reactions.
Baidu intends to gradually integrate Ernie into its search and other software services, similar to how Microsoft integrated ChatGPT into its Edge browser and Google uses Bard to augment search results.
Meanwhile, executives from Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd. have expressed an interest in incorporating AI into their products.
What's Next for SenseTime?
SenseTime's plan to launch a new AI model to compete with ChatGPT and other generative AI services like Dall-E and Bard comes as the AI industry grows rapidly.
Microsoft Corp. recently pledged a $10 billion investment in OpenAI, which developed the ChatGPT bot, while Alphabet Inc.'s biggest company has prioritized its response to ChatGPT.
AI Race Continues to Shake Up Tech Sector
Experts believe that new generative models and applications will emerge as AI technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace.
However, ethical concerns have been raised about the possibility of AI being used for malicious purposes.
Governments and regulatory bodies are struggling to keep up with technology and calling for greater transparency and accountability in the AI industry. Recently, Italy became one of the countries to ban ChatGPT.
Despite the industry's concerns, the advancement of AI has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries, including healthcare, finance, and manufacturing.
Whether SenseTime's new AI model can compete with ChatGPT and other established market players remains to be seen.
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