In a testament to the escalating interest in artificial intelligence (AI) within China, renowned tech behemoths Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings have come forward as prominent backers of the AI start-up, Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co, commonly known as Zhipu AI. This recent financial endorsement underscores the relentless momentum in China’s AI domain.
A substantial investment of 2.5 billion yuan (equivalent to US$342 million) was infused into Zhipu AI this year, with a notable portion coming from the tech stalwarts Alibaba and Tencent. The financial endorsement did not end there. Other illustrious names in the tech industry such as Ant Group, Meituan, and Xiaomi Corp also joined the ranks as investors. It’s noteworthy that Ant Group operates as the fintech subsidiary of Alibaba.
The investment portfolio for Zhipu AI doesn’t just stop at corporate giants. The start-up has garnered support from significant venture capital firms as well. Shunwei Capital, led by Xiaomi’s co-founder and CEO, Lei Jun, has thrown its weight behind Zhipu AI. Other notable backers include GL Ventures, an affiliate of Hillhouse Capital, and HongShan, an entity that emerged from the erstwhile Sequioa Capital business.
The influx of investments has significantly bolstered Zhipu AI’s market standing. As per data sourced from local business registry service QCC.com, the start-up’s valuation skyrocketed to US$1 billion by mid-September. This is a remarkable surge, especially considering its valuation stood at US$500 million in July the same year. Alibaba and Tencent’s participation in the Series B3 funding round played a pivotal role in this rapid appreciation. This growth trajectory of private investments into AI-centric enterprises on mainland China persists, notwithstanding attempts by external entities, such as the US government, to curb China’s progression in avant-garde technologies.
Zhipu AI has positioned itself as a formidable contender in the realm of generative AI, aiming to rival entities like Microsoft-supported OpenAI, the brains behind ChatGPT. Generative AI pertains to sophisticated algorithms which are harnessed to generate novel content spanning audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos.
The funds amassed by Zhipu AI are earmarked for the enhancement of its foundational large language model (LLM) – a sophisticated technology instrumental in training AI chatbots akin to ChatGPT. Earlier in June, the company announced its intentions to open-source its ChatGLM2-6B LLM.
Garnering recognition from official quarters, Zhipu’s chatbot, ChatGLM, was greenlit by the Chinese government for public introduction in late August, making it part of the inaugural generative AI services to receive such an approval. Zhipu AI, established in 2019, is the brainchild of researchers from the distinguished Knowledge Engineering Group at Beijing’s Tsinghua University. The startup’s helm is occupied by Zhang Peng, an alumnus with a PhD from Tsinghua’s computer science faculty. Beijing, the capital, serves as the epicenter of AI development in China, housing a significant chunk of the nation’s core AI enterprises and LLM innovations.
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