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☆ China's AI 'war of a hundred models' heads for a shakeout
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Additionally, companies have also announced dozens of "industry-specific LLMs" that link to their core model. However, investors and analysts say that most were yet to find viable business models, were too similar to each other and were now grappling with surging costs. Several other big name entrepreneurs and tech executives are behind new Chinese AI startups, such as Google China's former chief Kai-Fu Lee and Yan Juejie, a former vice-president of SenseTime (0020.HK). Others said that China's largest tech companies Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu ultimately had the biggest headstart and deep pockets to succeed, given their large user bases and wide range of services. For instance, they could easily offer generative AI services as an additional plug-in to their cloud users.

Persons: Baidu's, Robin Li, Ernie Bot, Tingshu Wang, OpenAI's, Esme Pau, Pau, Yuan Hongwei, Meta, Baichuan, Wang Xiaochuan, China's, Wang, Yuan, Kai, Fu Lee, Yan Juejie, SenseTime, Tony Tung, Tung, Josh Ye, Brenda Goh, Sam Holmes Organizations: Baidu, REUTERS, HK, Huawei, Nvidia, China, Macquarie Group, Y, Baichuan Intelligence, Inc, Sogou, Google, Partners, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, HONG KONG, Alibaba, United States, Washington, Shenzhen

☆ Meet Colin Huang — the billionaire founder of shopping giant Temu's parent company Pinduoduo — who quit Google to become a serial entrepreneur
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Grace Dean | Lu-Hai Liang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Colin Huang, the founder of ecommerce giant Pinduoduo, is currently China's fourth-richest person. Huang, who is worth $34 billion, owns 28% of Pinduoduo, the parent company of Temu. Huang was part of the team that launched Google China. Pinduoduo takes a small commission and charges sellers to promote their products on its app, but doesn't hold any stock. Just a year ago, Pinduoduo launched its cut-price shopping app Temu in the US.

Persons: Colin Huang, Huang, Colin Huang isn't, He's, Pinduoduo Organizations: Google, Morning, Sony, Bloomberg Locations: Google China, China, New York

☆ Colin Huang, the founder of the company that owns Chinese shopping app Temu, got $4.3 billion richer after earnings smashed analysts' expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The founder of Temu owner PDD saw his net worth jump $4.3 billion in one day, per Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. Colin Huang's fortune was boosted by a 15% surge in PDD shares after a bumper second-quarter earnings. The company reported second-quarter revenues of 52.28 billion Chinese yuan, or $7.2 billion — smashing analysts' average estimates of 43.7 billion yuan, per Refinitiv data. Huang was worth $32.8 billion as of August 30, per Bloomberg, making him the 41st richest person in the world. He launched the PDD app in May 2015 after raising $8 million from investors.

Persons: PDD, Colin Huang's, Huang, Colin Huang, Temu, PDD's Organizations: Service, Holdings, Bloomberg, Nasdaq, PDD, University of Wisconsin, Google, Shein's Locations: Wall, Silicon, PDD, Zhejiang, China, Google China

☆ Chinese quants redouble AI bets amid ChatGPT frenzy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File PhotoSHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, June 5 (Reuters) - Chinese quant hedge fund managers are rushing to explore ChatGPT-style tools, embracing the emerging AI technology that has sparked a global frenzy since the release of the widely popular Microsoft-backed OpenAI chatbot. His hedge fund already uses ChatGPT to better understand a company's fundamentals and avoid value traps, project earnings power, and identify investment opportunities and risks. A ChatGPT-like tool boosts quants' ability to process text-related data, said Feng Ji, chairman of Baiont Capital. Feng's hedge fund, backed by former Google China chief and AI veteran Kai-Fu Lee, has invested heavily in hardware to enhance computing power required for model-training. Regulators are looking for ways to tackle the impact of generative AI technology.

Persons: Thomas White, Steve Chen, Feng Ji, ChatGPT, Feng, Kai, Fu Lee, Feng's, Larry Cao, Cao, it's, Samuel Shen, Tom Westbrook, Himani Sarkar Organizations: Microsoft, Baiont, Google China, Flyer, Zhishan Investment, Wall, Regulators, HK, Baidu, CFA Institute, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, SINGAPORE, Shanghai, Beijing, Feng's Nanjing, China

MiniMax was founded in 2021 by some former employees of SenseTime (0020.HK), including Yan Junjie - a former vice president at the Chinese AI firm, two other people said. Wang Huiwen, co-founder of on-demand service giant Meituan (3690.HK), said he has founded a new AI company called Beijing Lightyear Technology with $50 million from investors. Google China's former chief, Kai-Fu Lee, has unveiled his new startup - Project AI 2.0. Wang Xiaochuan, founder of China's No.2 search engine Sogou, said in April that he had founded Baichuan Intelligence with a startup capital of $50 million. Its other early investors include China's Yunqi Partners and Future Capital, statements from the venture capital funds show.

Persons: MiniMax, Yan Junjie, Wang Huiwen, Kai, Fu Lee, Wang Xiaochuan, China's, MiHoYo, Charlie Chai, ERNIE Bot, Chai, Roxanne Liu, Josh Ye, Himani Sarkar Organizations: Microsoft, HK, Huawei, Baidu, Beijing Lightyear Technology, Google, Baichuan Intelligence, China's Yunqi Partners, Future, 86Research, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, HONG KONG, China, Beijing, miHoYo, Hong Kong

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