Microsoft-backed OpenAI has limited its HotChat GPT app to users in China, but the app is gaining traction in the country, with companies integrating the technology into their products and launching rival solutions. Rushing to do.
While residents in the country are unable to create OpenAI accounts to access the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot, virtual private networks and foreign phone numbers are helping some to bypass these restrictions.
At the same time, the OpenAI models behind the ChatGPT program, which can write articles, recipes and complex computer code, are relatively accessible in China and are increasingly being incorporated into Chinese consumer technology applications, from social networks to online shopping. have been.
The device’s growing popularity is raising awareness in China of how advanced the USAI is and how far it lags behind tech firms in the world’s second-largest economy, according to analysts. Fighting to catch up.
“There’s a lot of excitement around ChatGPT,” said Ding Daoshi, director of Beijing-based internet consultancy Soto. has helped us achieve computer interaction. “The changes it will bring are more immediate, more direct and faster.”
OpenAI or ChatGPT are not blocked by the Chinese authorities themselves, but OpenAI does not allow users in mainland China, Hong Kong, Iran, Russia and parts of Africa to sign up.
OpenAI told Reuters it is working to make its services more widely available.
“While we want to make our technology available everywhere, conditions in some countries make it difficult or impossible for us to do so in a way that is consistent with our mission,” the San Francisco-based firm said in an emailed statement. “We are currently working to increase the number of locations where we can provide safe and beneficial access to our devices.”
In December, Tencent Holdings’ ( 0700.HK ) WeChat, China’s largest messaging app, shut down several ChatGPT-related programs that had appeared on the network, according to local media reports, but among them The increase continues.
Dozens of bots spoofing ChatGPT technology have emerged on WeChat, with hobbyists using it to create programs or automated accounts that can interact with users. At least one account charges users 9.99 yuan ($1.47) to ask 20 questions.
Tencent did not respond to Reuters’ request for comments.
ChatGPT supports Chinese language interaction and is highly capable of communicating in Chinese, which has helped its unofficial adoption in the country.
Chinese firms also use proxy tools or existing partnerships with Microsoft, which is investing billions of dollars in its OpenAI, to gain access to the tools they need to incorporate AI technology into their products. allow
Shenzhen-based Proximai in December introduced a virtual character in its 3D game-like social app that used ChatGPT’s core technology to communicate. Beijing-based entertainment software company Kunlun Tech plans to add ChatGPT to its Opera web browser.
SleekFlow, a Tiger Global-backed startup in Hong Kong, said it is integrating AI into its customer relations messaging tools.
“We have clients all over the world,” said Henson Tsai, founder of SleekFlow. “Among other things, ChatGPT does excellent translation, sometimes better than other solutions available on the market.”
Chinese rivals
Adding to the buzz are the country’s biggest tech giants such as Baidu and Alibaba, which this week gave updates on AI models they are working on, prompting their shares to zoom. Is.
Baidu said this week it will complete internal testing of its “Ernie Bot” in March, a large AI model the search firm has been working on since 2019.
Alibaba said on Wednesday that its research institute Demo Academy is also testing a ChatGPT-style tool.
Duan, whose company is using a Baidu AI chatbot called Plato for natural language processing, said ChatGPT was at least more powerful than China’s current NLP solutions, although it was weak in some areas, such as speech. Understanding the context of a conversation.
Baidu did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Access to OpenAI’s GPT-3, or Generative Pre-Trend Transformer, was first launched in 2020, with updates forming the backbone of ChatGPT.
Duan said potential long-term compliance risks mean Chinese companies will most likely replace ChatGPT with a local alternative, if they can match the functionality of a US-made product.
“So we actually hope that there may be alternative solutions in China that we can use directly … that can handle the Chinese even better, and it can also comply with regulations better,” They said.