The Beijing startup based by know-how pioneer Kai-Fu Lee is introducing its first artificial-intelligence software for customers, a step aimed toward serving to China capitalize on the promising know-how.
Lee’s agency, 01.AI, is launching a free productiveness assistant referred to as Wanzhi, the most recent in a collection of AI merchandise it’s creating. Much like Microsoft Corp.’s Workplace 365 Copilot, it helps customers create spreadsheets, paperwork and slide displays extra rapidly—although it’s primarily tailor-made for the Chinese language market. It could possibly interpret monetary studies, take minutes for conferences and speed-read books so long as Elon Musk’s 600,000-word biography to provide a fast synopsis. The app works in Chinese language and English.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Lee stated that China wants its personal ChatGPT—OpenAI’s chatbot that was launched in 2022 and is banned within the nation—to speed up curiosity, adoption and funding.
“For Individuals, the second occurred 17 months in the past,” Lee stated over a Zoom name from Beijing. “China’s customers didn’t have a ChatGPT second. Till now, not one of the Chinese language chatbots or instruments have been adequate.”
Whereas U.S. companies resembling OpenAI, Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. have taken the lead in generative AI, Chinese language gamers are urgent exhausting to catch up. Along with 01.AI, tech gamers together with Baidu Inc. and TikTok-parent ByteDance Ltd. are pouring funds into creating their very own AI fashions and chatbot companies. Beijing has additionally offered monetary and coverage assist. Beijing bars overseas AI fashions partially due to its strict censorship regime, however the so-called Nice Firewall additionally ensures that home gamers could have an infinite native market with out world competitors.
The Taiwan-born 62-year-old—who labored for Apple Inc. and Google earlier than beginning his personal enterprise capital agency greater than a decade in the past—grew to become chief govt officer at 01.AI final yr. The startup reached a $1 billion valuation, or unicorn standing, inside eight months on the power of an open-source AI mannequin that outperformed Silicon Valley rivals on a number of key measures.
Along with Wanzhi, the agency can be introducing a much bigger, proprietary massive language mannequin—the know-how underpinning AI chatbots—referred to as Yi-Giant, aimed toward enterprise customers.
Software program builders will be capable to use the Yi-Giant mannequin at aggressive costs. Lee says the mannequin’s software programming interface, or API, will price $2.50 for 1 million enter tokens and $12 for 1 million output tokens—about 1 million tokens lets a developer ship roughly ship 250 queries backwards and forwards. That’s far lower than with OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo, he stated.
Like many Chinese language corporations, 01.AI stockpiled “graphics processing unit” semiconductors from Nvidia Corp. when it grew to become obvious the U.S. authorities was planning to ban the export of high-end chips, such because the H100s which are used to coach main AI companies. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Chinese language e-commerce large that invested in Lee’s agency, offered a further provide of H100s, and 01.AI supplemented its wants with barely slower and fewer highly effective Nvidia H800 processors.
“Our fashions have been educated on H100s processors legally introduced into China,” Lee stated. “Necessity is the mom of invention, we squeeze the whole lot we will from the compute out there.”
In distinction to many world AI startups, Lee stated 01.AI is nearing profitability. After coaching the fashions on Chinese language and common information units, Lee is taking the fashions and apps world, and signing up home in addition to abroad prospects to spice up income subsequent yr.
After a month-and-a-half of testing on customers, Lee’s firm is rolling a model of Wanzhi for PC browsers with extra complete options, and one for mobiles, accessible via the messaging service WeChat. He’s showing in video tutorials on Douyin, the Chinese language model of TikTok, to teach potential customers.
“The yr 2024 might be explosive for generative AI functions in China,” Lee stated.
Lee stated his startup is closing the second tranche of a $250 million pre-Sequence A spherical in a number of weeks and, by the yr’s finish, will begin in search of buyers for its Sequence A. The corporate has additionally streamlined its {hardware} and software program processes to maximise effectivity and maintain prices down.
“When GPT-5 comes, we might be steps behind,” Lee stated, referring to OpenAI’s rumored next-generation AI mannequin. However 01.AI is concentrated on making AI reasonably priced relatively than creating large, dearer fashions. “You’ll be able to construct an enormous wonderful spaceship, however can it take you from Sacramento to San Francisco?”
