Alibaba and Tencent jointly invest in state-backed AI startup ZhipuAI Credit: ZhipuAI
China’s star AI venture ZhipuAI announced on Thursday a capital injection from state-run AI-focused funds in the latest fundraising round that closed earlier this year, as the government steps up efforts to promote the booming tech sector with a mention in March’s government work report by Premier Li Qiang of AI being “an important engine of new productive forces.” The exact financing sum has not been disclosed. The Beijing city government-led AI fund was registered and established with other three funds covering pharmaceuticals and healthcare, robotics, and IT in January, with a total injection of RMB 50 billion ($6.9 billion). The company committed to use the financing for “further research and development” into foundational models, while its founder and CEO Zhang Peng said OpenAI-built Sora’s come-out was “not a surprise” to him because but the release was “just showing the gap [between us and the world’s advanced level] visible once again.” [Caixin, in Chinese]
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