Beijing To Support ChatGPT-Style AI Services

Authorities in China’s capital Beijing said they plan to support major firms in creating ChatGPT-style services, amidst a frenzy of investor interest around so-called generative artificial intelligence.

The city’s bureau of economy and information said it was looking to encourage breakthroughs in the field of large language models, the type of AI used by services such as ChatGPT to generate human-like conversations.

The ministry also said it would support enterprises, research institutes, open source communities and others in core AI technology innovation.

In its report the bureau said Beijing had 1,048 major AI companies as of October 2022, or 29 percent of the national total.

Competition

The report said Beijing has the biggest industrial agglomeration capacity in China, with a well-developed AI industry chain.

It has more than 40,000 professionals in core AI technologies and has produced the most published papers on AI in the country, the report said.

The number of smart factories and digitised workshops in Beijing reached 36 and 47, respectively, last year, the study found.

Major Chinese tech firms such as Baidu and Alibaba rolled out AI announcements last week amidst intense interest in ChatGPT and its creator, Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

Investor frenzy

Chinese mainland investors have sent AI-related shares surging in recent days as investors place speculative bets on the trend.

A UBS study found ChatGPT had gained 100 million users two months after launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer internet application in history.