Alibaba pushes AI advancements for productivity

Eddie Wu Yongming, CEO of Alibaba Group Holding, announced at China’s annual internet conference that the company is advancing AI technology to boost productivity in various sectors.

Wu highlighted Alibaba’s commitment to laying the necessary infrastructure and systems to support AI development in China during his speech at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.

Furthermore, Wu stated that AI will significantly boost global productivity over the next 30 years, as per a statement from Alibaba.

Wu explained that AI is progressively impacting various sectors, triggering productivity revolutions, and that Alibaba already provides open-source AI models for traditional industry partners.

The Wuzhen summit this year has a strong focus on AI, featuring discussions on topics like responsible AI development, innovation, governance, and its role in boosting productivity. A special AI expert committee will also be established.

The urgency of advancing AI in China has increased due to the US’s efforts to limit China’s access to advanced semiconductors, aiming to prevent its rival from gaining ground in AI development.

Alibaba, along with other major Chinese internet firms, has been making substantial investments in AI. The company reported a 97% decrease in the cost of using its Tongyi Qianwen AI models via APIs, thanks to infrastructure improvements.

Wu shared that Alibaba has developed over 78,000 derivative models based on its Qwen family, placing it on par with Meta’s Llama models in terms of the number of derivatives.

Wu mentioned that Alibaba aims to create a dynamic AI ecosystem, lowering barriers for industries to adopt and develop AI, and promoting its application across various business contexts.

Moreover, Wu noted that Alibaba’s AI technology is being used in academia, with over 50 Chinese universities utilizing its cloud and AI services for research in fields such as biology and agriculture.

Wu concluded by drawing a parallel between affordable electricity enabling the “Age of Electricity” and affordable computing power paving the way for the upcoming “Age of Intelligence.”