AI in China: The Gap may be narrowing!
Baidu, Elon Musk's opinion on the AI gap between US and China
Characters = Baidu Ernie’s Chinese name, source: Twitter
Please note: The insights presented in this article are derived from confidential consultations our team has conducted with clients across private equity, hedge funds, startups, and investment banks, facilitated through specialized expert networks. Due to our agreements with these networks, we cannot reveal specific names or delve into detailed topics from these discussions. Therefore, we offer a summarized version of these insights, ensuring valuable content while upholding our confidentiality commitments.
Recently, we've been in dialogue with clients keen on exploring the AI landscape in China. They're mulling over the idea of launching firms that could rival prominent players like Scale AI or Open AI. Their prime focus? Innovating and refining their personalized versions of ChatGPT (Baidu Ernie’s). These conversations have been comprehensive and insightful.
In this short article, we'll talk about
China's AI goals,
China’s Semiconductor AI Capabilities: Touch upon US’s October 2022 restrictions and into their prowess in chipset development,
China’s Generative AI Capabilities: Compare China’s Ernie Bot with ChatGPT
China's Bold AI Gamble: Dominating the World by 2030!
China had made a daring announcement: they're going all-in on AI, aiming to be the world's top player by 2030. And they're not just talking big - they're backing it up with a whopping $150 billion plan. This isn't just some minor government memo. It's a high-level promise from China that they're gearing up to outshine everyone else in the AI game.
But that's not all. China is also pouring billions into huge "moonshot" projects and pumping money into startups and academic research. So, while many of us are still getting our heads around AI, China's already planning to rule this tech frontier.
You might be asking, "How much is China trailing behind from US in AI inventions?" According to Elon Musk, it's about a year. Let’s hear what he has to say.
Reflecting on a Year of China Sanctions: Semiconductor AI Capabilities
About a year ago, on October 7th, the US put some rules - US October 2022 Restrictions - in place to stop China from making powerful AI chips and subsequently artificial-intelligence systems like ChatGPT. I remember the US government was worried because these chips could help China's army and also be used to watch over people in ways that aren't fair or right. They were especially concerned about AI. The US wanted to make sure China didn't get too far ahead in this area for safety reasons.
But now, I've noticed some things. Huawei, a big company in China, just made a new chip. China is also still buying lots of parts and machines to make these chips. They even got $5B of chips from NVIDIA. So, I'm left wondering: did the rules we set up last year really work? From what I can see, it seems like China is still moving ahead, despite these rules.
Comparing China’s Ernie bot: Generative AI Capabilities
In March, the tech world was abuzz when Robin Li, the founder of Baidu, unveiled the new large language model 'Ernie bot'. Baidu, often dubbed China's Google, has been at the forefront of technological innovations, and this announcement marked its foray deeper into the realm of artificial intelligence.
Baidu shares drop to 8-week lows because During a livestreamed release event Thursday, Baidu CEO Robin Li emphasized the company’s product — Ernie bot — is not perfect.
While the specifics of Ernie bot's capabilities were still unfolding post-announcement, one thing is clear: with the backing of Baidu and the vision of its founder, Ernie bot is poised to be a significant player in the AI chatbot landscape. As we await further details and user experiences, the tech community remains eager to witness the impact of Ernie bot on the AI industry.
Fast forward to June announcement:
What kind of strength does the latest version of china’s Ernie model achieve? Here's the comparison they shared in June. If you're not a native Chinese reader like me, you might want to use Google Translate to understand the article.
