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Alibaba (BABA) shares jump on word of the company designing a ChatGPT rival

The Chinese tech giant has reportedly been internally testing a artificial intelligence chatbot similar to ChatGPT.

TJ Denzer

February 8, 2023 8:40 AM

Image via Shutterstock

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Artificial intelligence and its applications across the tech industry have become a hot topic as of late, and Chinese tech giant Alibaba is entering the ring. The company’s stock shares rose a little bit as the market opened today on word that it may be developing a AI-powered chatbot rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT technology, and that the company has already begun testing the project internally.

Alibaba shared word of its efforts in the AI space in a recent communication with CNBC. An Alibaba spokesperson said the company had already begun work on a ChatGPT-like project and that said project was currently in internal testing within Alibaba. Though the company could not provide a timeline for when it would be able to show or release its ChatGPT rival, Alibaba is said to have been working on generative AI technology since 2017, so this seems to have been a project in the works for sometime already.

Alibaba is the latest tech firm to throw its weight into the frenzy surrounding AI applications. Microsoft recently made a multi-billion dollar USD investment into ChatGPT and its developing company, OpenAI, and with it, Microsoft has already worked towards incorporating ChatGPT technology into its Bing search engine. Meanwhile, Google has also made efforts to enter the space, introducing its own ChatGPT competitor in the form of Apprentice Bard, which is based on its own internal LaMDA technology.

Alibaba’s shares were up on word of its entry into the race. With major investors like GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen backing it, it will be interesting to see where Alibaba goes with this latest craze in AI. Stay tuned as we watch for updates on this and other AI-related news.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.