Zhipu AI
Founded in 2019 by two distinguished professors from Tsinghua University, Zhipu AI emerged as a pioneering force in the Chinese multilingual AI space. The startup’s portfolio includes ChatGLM, a sophisticated chatbot, and Ying, an innovative AI-powered video creation tool. These products showcase Zhipu’s commitment to developing versatile AI solutions applicable across various industries and domains. ChatGLM, in particular, demonstrates the company’s ability to create conversational AI that is not only functional but also capable of understanding and responding to complex queries in multiple languages. Ying, on the other hand, highlights Zhipu’s foray into generative AI, providing users with a powerful tool to create engaging video content with ease.
Last August, Zhipu unveiled its GLM-4-Plus model, drawing comparisons to OpenAI’s GPT-4o for its impressive performance. The company also launched GLM-4-Voice, a conversational AI model capable of engaging in dialogues in both Mandarin and English, mimicking human-like inflections and regional accents. The launch of these advanced models underscores Zhipu’s ambition to compete with leading AI developers globally. GLM-4-Plus aims to match the capabilities of OpenAI’s flagship model, while GLM-4-Voice pushes the boundaries of conversational AI by incorporating nuanced human-like speech patterns. This level of sophistication requires advanced natural language processing techniques and a deep understanding of human communication.
Despite its technological prowess, Zhipu recently faced headwinds as the U.S. government added it to its trade restriction list. Nevertheless, the company secured over $140 million in funding earlier this month, with participation from Alibaba, Tencent, and various state-backed funds, demonstrating continued investor confidence. This funding influx provides Zhipu with the resources necessary to continue its research and development efforts, despite the challenges posed by trade restrictions. The support from major tech companies like Alibaba and Tencent, as well as state-backed funds, highlights the strategic importance of Zhipu AI to China’s overall AI development strategy. The company’s resilience in the face of adversity underscores its potential to become a major player in the global AI landscape.
Moonshot AI
Another offspring of Tsinghua University, Moonshot AI was established in 2023 by Yang Zhilin, a researcher with academic roots at Carnegie Mellon University. This strong academic foundation has allowed Moonshot AI to rapidly develop and deploy cutting-edge AI solutions. The company benefits from the expertise of its founder, as well as the research capabilities and resources of Tsinghua University. This combination of academic rigor and practical application has propelled Moonshot AI to the forefront of China’s AI innovation.
The company’s flagship product, Kimi AI, has rapidly gained popularity, securing a spot among the top 5 most used chatbots in China. As of November 2023, Counterpoint Research estimated Kimi’s monthly active user base at nearly 13 million. Kimi’s standout feature is its capacity to process queries of up to 2 million Chinese characters, a testament to its advanced natural language processing capabilities. This impressive ability allows Kimi to handle complex and nuanced conversations, providing users with a more comprehensive and satisfying experience. The chatbot’s popularity reflects its ability to meet the specific needs and preferences of Chinese users, making it a valuable tool for a wide range of applications.
Valued at $3.3 billion, Moonshot AI also enjoys backing from Alibaba and Tencent, further solidifying its position in the competitive AI landscape. This strong financial backing provides Moonshot AI with the resources to expand its operations, invest in research and development, and attract top talent. The support from Alibaba and Tencent, two of China’s largest tech companies, also validates Moonshot AI’s potential and strategic importance. This combination of innovative technology and strong financial backing positions Moonshot AI for continued success in the rapidly evolving AI market.
MiniMax
Founded in 2021 by AI researcher Yan Junjie, MiniMax is known for Talkie, a chatbot that allows users to interact with virtual characters, ranging from celebrities to fictional personas. This unique approach to chatbot development sets MiniMax apart from its competitors. By focusing on creating engaging and interactive experiences with virtual characters, MiniMax has tapped into a growing demand for personalized and entertaining AI applications. The ability to interact with virtual celebrities and fictional characters provides users with a novel and immersive experience that traditional chatbots cannot offer.
Originally launched as Glow in 2022, the app was later rebranded as Xingye in China and Talkie internationally. However, it was removed from the U.S. App Store in December due to unspecified ‘technical reasons,’ according to the South China Morning Post. This setback highlights the challenges that Chinese AI companies face when expanding into international markets. Regulatory hurdles, technical issues, and cultural differences can all pose significant obstacles to global expansion. Despite this setback, MiniMax remains a significant player in the Chinese AI market, with a strong focus on developing innovative and engaging chatbot experiences.
MiniMax also developed Hailuo AI, a tool for generating videos from text. The company reached a valuation of $2.5 billion following a $600 million funding round led by Alibaba in March of the previous year. This valuation reflects the company’s potential to disrupt the video creation market with its AI-powered tools. Hailuo AI empowers users to easily create compelling video content from text prompts, streamlining the video production process and making it accessible to a wider audience. This capability has attracted significant investment from Alibaba, solidifying MiniMax’s position as a leader in the Chinese AI landscape.
Baichuan Intelligence
Established in March 2023, Baichuan Intelligence assembled a team of seasoned professionals with experience at Microsoft, Huawei, Baidu, and Tencent. This experienced team brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the company, allowing it to quickly develop and deploy cutting-edge AI solutions. The diverse backgrounds of the team members, spanning multiple leading tech companies, provide Baichuan Intelligence with a unique perspective and a competitive advantage.
The startup released two open-source language models, Baichuan-7B and Baichuan-13B, in 2023. These models are trained on multilingual data and support various domains, including general knowledge, mathematics, programming, translation, law, and medicine. The open-source nature of these models allows developers and researchers to freely access, use, and modify them, fostering innovation and collaboration within the AI community. The multilingual capabilities of the models make them suitable for a wide range of applications, while their support for diverse domains demonstrates their versatility and potential impact.
In July, Baichuan successfully raised $687.6 million, increasing its valuation to over 20 billion yuan (approximately $2.8 billion). The funding round included participation from Alibaba, Tencent, and state-owned investment funds. This substantial funding influx provides Baichuan Intelligence with the resources necessary to further develop its AI models, expand its team, and pursue new market opportunities. The continued support from major tech companies and state-owned funds underscores the strategic importance of Baichuan Intelligence to China’s AI development strategy.
StepFun
Based in Shanghai, StepFun is an AI startup founded in 2023 by Jiang Daxin, former Senior Vice President of Microsoft. Despite its relatively young age, the company has made significant strides by launching 11 foundation models, including AI for image processing, audio processing, and multimodal applications. This rapid development and deployment of multiple foundation models demonstrate StepFun’s agility and ability to quickly adapt to changing market demands. The company’s focus on diverse applications, including image processing, audio processing, and multimodal applications, positions it as a versatile player in the AI landscape.
Among these models, Step-2 stands out. This language model boasts one trillion parameters and is currently ranked alongside models from DeepSeek, Alibaba, and OpenAI on the LiveBench leaderboard, which assesses the performance of large language models in real-time. The impressive performance of Step-2 highlights StepFun’s ability to compete with leading AI developers globally. The model’s ranking on the LiveBench leaderboard demonstrates its capabilities in language understanding, reasoning, and generation, making it a valuable tool for a wide range of applications.
In December of last year, StepFun raised hundreds of millions of dollars in a Series B funding round, backed by Fortera Capital, a state-owned private equity fund. This strong financial backing provides StepFun with the resources necessary to continue its research and development efforts and expand its market reach. The support from Fortera Capital, a state-owned private equity fund, underscores the strategic importance of StepFun to China’s AI development strategy.
01.AI
Founded in 2023 by Kai-Fu Lee, a veteran executive who previously worked at Apple, Microsoft, and Google, 01.AI is a notable player in China’s open-source AI movement. Lee’s extensive experience in the tech industry brings credibility and expertise to the company, while its focus on open-source AI aligns with a growing trend towards democratizing AI technology. The company’s commitment to open-source principles fosters collaboration and innovation within the AI community, allowing developers and researchers to freely access and contribute to its models.
The company’s primary models are Yi-Lightning and Yi-Large. Both models have been released as open-source and have quickly become recognized as top-performing models globally, excelling in language proficiency, reasoning, and contextual understanding. The open-source nature of these models has contributed to their rapid adoption and recognition within the AI community. Their strong performance in language proficiency, reasoning, and contextual understanding demonstrates their capabilities in understanding and generating human-like text.
Yi-Lightning is particularly noteworthy for its cost-effective training. According to Kai-Fu Lee’s LinkedIn post, the model was trained using only 2,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs for one month, significantly less than xAI’s Grok 2, while achieving comparable performance. This cost-effectiveness makes Yi-Lightning an attractive option for developers and researchers with limited resources. Its ability to achieve comparable performance to xAI’s Grok 2 with significantly less computing power demonstrates its efficiency and innovative approach to model training.
Yi-Large, on the other hand, is designed for natural human-like conversations, supporting both Chinese and English. This makes it a versatile tool for various applications, from customer service to content creation. The model’s ability to support both Chinese and English makes it suitable for a wide range of applications, catering to both domestic and international markets. Its focus on natural human-like conversations aims to create a more engaging and intuitive user experience, making it a valuable tool for customer service, content creation, and other applications.
The ‘Six Tigers’ represent a formidable force in the Chinese AI landscape. Their blend of experienced talent, innovative technology, and strategic funding positions them as key contenders in the global AI race. While DeepSeek has garnered significant attention, these six companies are quietly building the foundation for China’s AI future, shaping the industry with their cutting-edge models and strategic vision. They demonstrate the breadth and depth of AI development within China, highlighting a competitive ecosystem that fosters innovation and challenges the dominance of Western AI giants. As they continue to evolve and expand their capabilities, the Six Tigers are poised to play an increasingly prominent role in the global AI arena. Their successes highlight China’s commitment to becoming a global leader in AI and the potential for Chinese AI companies to disrupt the existing global order.
The competitive landscape of AI in China is characterized by both collaboration and rivalry. While the Six Tigers compete for market share and talent, they also benefit from a supportive ecosystem that includes government funding, access to vast datasets, and a culture of innovation. This dynamic environment fosters rapid development and allows Chinese AI companies to quickly adapt to changing market demands. The government’s strong support for AI development provides Chinese companies with a significant advantage over their Western counterparts. Access to vast datasets, often collected with less stringent privacy regulations than in Western countries, allows them to train their models on a larger scale. The culture of innovation within China encourages experimentation and risk-taking, leading to rapid advancements in AI technology.
The success of these companies is also driven by their ability to leverage China’s unique advantages. These include a massive domestic market, a large pool of engineering talent, and government policies that prioritize AI development. By focusing on the needs of the Chinese market and adapting their technologies to local conditions, the Six Tigers have been able to gain a competitive edge over their Western counterparts. The massive domestic market provides a large and readily available user base for testing and refining AI technologies. The large pool of engineering talent ensures that these companies have access to the skills and expertise necessary to develop and deploy cutting-edge AI solutions. Government policies that prioritize AI development create a supportive regulatory environment and provide access to funding and resources.
However, these companies also face significant challenges. These include increasing regulatory scrutiny, growing competition from established tech giants, and concerns about data privacy and security. Navigating these challenges will be crucial for their continued success. Increasing regulatory scrutiny from both the Chinese government and international organizations could impact their ability to collect and use data. Growing competition from established tech giants, both domestic and international, could make it difficult to maintain market share and attract top talent. Concerns about data privacy and security could erode user trust and limit the adoption of their AI technologies.
The rise of the Six Tigers also has broader implications for the global AI landscape. As Chinese AI companies continue to innovate and expand their reach, they are challenging the dominance of Western companies and reshaping the global balance of power in AI. This trend is likely to continue in the years to come, as China invests heavily in AI and seeks to become a global leader in the field. The increasing influence of Chinese AI companies could lead to a more multipolar global AI landscape,with multiple centers of innovation and influence. This shift in the global balance of power could have significant implications for international relations, economic competitiveness, and technological development. The Six Tigers, along with other Chinese AI companies, are poised to play a key role in shaping the future of AI and its impact on the world. Their advancements in areas such as natural language processing, computer vision, and robotics are pushing the boundaries of what is possible and driving innovation across various industries. As they continue to grow and evolve, the Six Tigers will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the global AI landscape and the future of technology. Their success demonstrates the potential of Chinese innovation and the country’s commitment to becoming a leader in the global AI revolution.