Chinese Tech Giant Alibaba To Roll Out ChatGPT-like AI Service Called "Tongyi Qianwen"

China's Alibaba will introduce its own ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence (AI) product called Tongyi Qianwen.

Tongyi Qianwen means "seeking an answer by asking a thousand questions."

The technology giant's cloud computing unit plans to integrate the chatbot across its businesses in the "near future."

Technology companies around the world have been launching their own "generative AI chatbots."

Generative AI learns from past data to create human-like content.

Alphabet's Google and Chinese technology group Baidu have revealed their own AI models and chatbots.

Alibaba's workplace messaging app DingTalk will initially incorporate Tongyi Qianwen, which can function in both English and Chinese, according to the company.

It will also be integrated into Tmall Genie, which is similar to Amazon's Alexa voice assistant smart speaker.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI released ChatGPT in November last year, leading to a surge in generative AI interest.

ChatGPT responds to natural, human-like language and can imitate various writing styles, sourcing its information from the internet as it was in 2021.

It was added to Microsoft's search engine, Bing, in February.

Microsoft has said it will incorporate ChatGPT in Office apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Concerns over potential threat to humanity recently prompted high-profile figures, such as Twitter owner Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, to advocate for temporary suspension of advanced AI development.

Earlier this mont, Italy became the first Western nation to block ChatGPT.