China’s latest stride in the realm of artificial intelligence sees a notable milestone as four significant generative AI models hailing from Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and 360 Group successfully navigate China’s official “large model standard compliance assessment.”
This assessment process was overseen by the China Electronics Standardization Institute, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as detailed in a report by the Global Times.
The objective of this endeavor is to foster the advancement of AI-generated content (AIGC) within the industry, culminating in the creation of an exhaustive compliance directory.
This evaluation entails a multidimensional model assessment framework, underscored by an intricate indicator system meticulously designed to encompass key aspects such as the generalization, intelligence, and safety of these large-scale AI models.
Embracing various modalities, including text, speech, and visual content, this assessment signifies a pivotal step toward harnessing the full potential of artificial intelligence in China.
Among the roster of recently unveiled AI models, one noteworthy inclusion is Baidu’s ERNIE bot, which has rapidly garnered an impressive user base of approximately 100 million individuals since its debut back in August. Additionally, Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen stands out as the sole open-source model within this pioneering cohort of large-scale AI models.
In offering insights on the matter, Pan Helin, a professor hailing from the International Business School of Zhejiang University, emphasized the importance of proactive government regulation in nurturing the AI industry in China. According to him, taking regulatory measures in the early stages of development is far more conducive to the sector’s growth compared to intervening later on.
Dou Dejing, an associate professor at Tsinghua University’s School of Electronic Engineering, unveiled a significant achievement – China’s premier domestic AI models have ascended to the caliber of OpenAI’s GPT-3.5, while concurrently bridging the technical chasm with GPT-4.
Baidu CEO, Robin Li, confidently heralded the prowess of his company’s Ernie Bot 4.0, boldly positioning it on par with OpenAI’s formidable GPT-4 during the latter part of October 2023. Meanwhile, Zhou Hongyi, the astute founder and president of 360 Security Technology, foresees ChatGPT establishing a commanding lead, outpacing its Chinese counterparts by a considerable margin, as articulated in reports from the Global Times.
