Chinese AI upstart Baichuan raises $300 million from Alibaba, Tencent, others

HONG KONG/BEIJING: Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup Baichuan said on Tuesday it has raised $300 million from investors including Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent.

The company on its WeChat account said the round followed an early $50 million angel round. The investors include smartphone maker Xiaomi and other investment firms, it added.

China's craze over generative AI has triggered a flurry of product and fundraising announcements from startups and tech giants, as the industry races to find a homegrown rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT. Investors have warned, however, that a shakeout is imminent as cost and profit pressures grow.

Founded by Wang Xiaochuan, founder of internet search engine Sogou Inc, Baichuan was one of the first companies to receive China's approval to release a public chatbot in late August.

Baidu on Tuesday unveiled the newest version of its generative AI model, Ernie 4.0, saying its capabilities were on par with OpenAI's pioneering GPT-4 model, but analysts cautioned the launch lacked major highlights versus the previous version.