Alibaba tests ChatGPT-style tool internally

Alibaba Group is testing ChatGPT-style dialogue robot internally, joining an array of Chinese tech companies to rolling out their own versions of ChatGPT-style technology.

The ChatGPT-style is developed by Alibaba DAMO Academy, which is set by Alibaba in 2017 to focus on areas such as artificial intelligence, vision computing, natural language processing, human-machine interactions, internet of things (IoT).  

The AI tool was unveiled in an internal screenshot sent by an employee of DAMO Academy at the the group’s communication app DingTalk on Wednesday. It did not provide details about the new features.

According to a latest report by the 21st Century Herald newspaper, Alibaba is considering to combine the ChatGPT-style tool with the group’s communication app DingTalk. It did not provide details about the new features.

On Monday, DingTalk published a user guide for adding ChatGPT to group chats via a valid token generated by the service.

ChatGPT arose the interests of Chinese internet users, who like people elsewhere shared screenshots of surprising conversations with the AI bot on local social media.

On Alibaba’s Taobao Marketplace, you can find hundreds of merchants are offering ChatGPT accounts or providing guide to assist users with the register. However, it is difficult for China-based users to access ChatGPT even with a virtual private network to bypass the Great Firewall, because opening an account requires a foreign phone number.

Following the hot trend, Chinese tech companies including Baidu has announced a ChatGPT-like tool dubbed “Ernie Bot”, or “Wenxin Yiyan” in Chinese Pinyin. Chinese e-commerce giant JD said it is also planning to integrate some technology similar to ChatGPT’s into some part of its e-commerce platform’s customer service.

Shares in Baidu jumped by 15% on Tuesday after it announced to internally test “Ernie bot”.