Note: The article was written by Yimie and translated by Zinan.

Get ready for the annual insights from TechNode Content Team! The year 2023 can be considered a groundbreaking year in the technology field. As wrapping up this year, we gathered different insights from our content team. We’ll present nine Q&As, with timely updates every Wednesday and Friday in the following weeks!

Today, our Q&A comes from Yimie Yong, Reporter at TNGlobal. Yimie is a reporter who focuses on EV, AI, FinTech, and InsurTech.

1. Which company has impressed you the most in 2023?

This year, the most impressive company for me is OpenAI. ChatGPT is the most eye-catching product of the year, sparking a trend in AI. This generative AI has influenced various fields, including creativity, design, media, etc. Tech giants in China and the U.S. are competing to develop and launch similar products.

2. Which company has surprised you the most in 2023?

TikTok Shop being shut down in Indonesia by the government was unexpected. The Indonesian government believed that TikTok Shop’s business model would impact the livelihood of local small businesses, leading to the shutdown order. Later, TikTok announced a $1.5 billion investment in the Indonesian e-commerce platform Tokopedia. The developments of these two companies will continue to be watched closely.

3. Which industry professional/entrepreneur/startup founder has left the most profound impression on you in 2023?

Sam Altman, the creator of ChatGPT. After being removed from the CEO position, Microsoft announced his hiring along with co-founder Greg Brockman. In a surprising turn of events, with the support of core employees and investors, Altman and Brockman returned to the company, highlighting their influence and status.

4. What is the most memorable overseas event for you in 2023?

Sam Altman, the creator of ChatGPT, was unexpectedly removed from the CEO position by the OpenAI board. Later, Microsoft announced his inclusion, and he returned to OpenAI in a strong comeback.

5. If you were to recommend one significant industry trend for everyone to follow, what would it be?

NVIDIA’s collaboration with Malaysia’s YTL Group to build a $4.3 billion AI data center in Malaysia. The development of NVIDIA in Malaysia is anticipated, and there are hopes that it will drive the growth of AI in the country. Due to the popularity of ChatGPT, AI has become a focal point, making NVIDIA the best-performing listed company on the S&P 500 index last year. The founder, Jensen Huang, created a buzz with his whirlwind tour of Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, at the end of last year.

6. What industry buzzword have you encountered the most in 2023?

Artificial Intelligence (AI), ChatGPT.

7. Which phrase or sentence best summarizes your perspective on the field you’ve been following in 2023?

AI field: Rapid advancement, intense competition. With the significant success of ChatGPT, major tech giants and startups are competing to launch AI-related products, leading to a rapid advancement of AI.

8. What product/company/technology/industry are you most looking forward to next year?

I’m very excited about the developments in the Electric Vehicle (EV) sector. Huawei and Xiaomi have recently launched their EV models, and I’m eager to see the impact and changes they will bring to the overall EV industry. Additionally, the Chinese EV brands BYD and NIO have surpassed Tesla in global sales, and I’m looking forward to the plans and developments of BYD, especially its introduction of products in Indonesia in January.

9. Do you believe AI has the potential to threaten humanity?

I believe AI may affect some jobs, but currently rather than replacing people’s jobs, I tend to believe that AI is helping people enhance efficiency and solve problems such as quick data collection. Furthermore, I have confidence that humans will find ways to control or balance the threats posed by AI and use AI more effectively to enhance efficiency and solve various problems.

Note: The article was written by Angelo.

Get ready for the annual insights from TechNode Content Team! The year 2023 can be considered a groundbreaking year in the technology field. As wrapping up this year, we gathered different insights from our content team. We’ll present nine Q&As, with timely updates every Wednesday and Friday in the following weeks!

Today, our Q&A comes from Angelo, Editor at TNGlobal. Angelo is an editor who focuses on SEA Tech News.

1. Which technology has impressed you the most in 2023?

Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence is the hottest topic in recent years, and OpenAI has been at the forefront of this industry. It’s not necessarily for its advancements in technology, because other companies like Google, Microsoft, Meta, etc., have also been building upon their own capabilities. Many of these are under-the-radar, but OpenAI accelerated the time-to-market for AI-driven products, for better or worse. More importantly, the management “drama” that unfolded toward the end of 2023 highlighted the importance of governance and accountability in this emerging technology, especially given its potential impact on humanity.

2. Which company has surprised you the most in 2023?

Frankly, Microsoft is the single company that has surprised me this year. While many would view Microsoft as a bland company that now lacks the sexiness and edge that other giants like Apple and Google have, it does have significant investments in products and technologies that can potentially be gamechangers, particularly AI. It is also making significant inroads into community-driven technologies such as open-source projects, which is one of the things I am deeply interested in.

3. Which industry professional/entrepreneur/startup founder has left the most profound impression on you in 2023?

OpenAI’s Sam Altman made an impression on me not only because of AI, but rather because of his interest in survivalism and prepping. Altman reportedly has a bunker in New Zealand, same as many other billionaires who can afford the infrastructure, supplies, personnel, and training involved in prepping for disasters in the long-haul. I am mostly interested in prepping for more localized ones, such as those brought about by natural hazards (e.g., earthquakes, storms, etc.). But given Altman’s involvement in AI, does he know something we don’t? Will AI eventually lead to humanity’s ruin?

4. What is the most memorable overseas event for you in 2023?

I am particularly interested in exploring the unknown and pushing human capabilities and technologies to the extremes. For this reason, I have two events from 2023 that are quite memorable to me. One is India’s successful Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon, which is perhaps one of the factors that will rekindle renewed interest in moon missions and exploration, not to mention the other activities by NASA, SpaceX, CNSA, ESA, and other organizations in advancing space-exploration technologies.

Another is the OceanGate disaster, which involves another area of exploration–the deep oceans. With its loss of its Titan and crew, it also underscores the importance of establishing a balance between achieving innovations and developing standards for safety.

We’ve achieved so much in these areas in the past century alone. I’m excited for what we can achieve in the 21st century onwards.

5. If you were to recommend one significant industry trend for everyone to follow, what would it be?

There’s always talk about how electric vehicles will enhance the sustainability of our transportation systems. For me, however, what’s more interesting is the deep technology behind these industries, particularly alternative power sources. Electric vehicles may simply be shifting the carbon footprint from fossil fuels to other sources of energy. But what about new breakthroughs that can potentially be cleaner and safer, such as the use of hydrogen and other materials? And this might not only be for terrestrial travel. How about propulsion or space-going vessels?

6. What industry buzzword have you encountered the most in 2023?

AI, of course, and its related buzzwords, had been the most popular in 2023. Other contenders would be “The Great Resignation” in the context of work-from-home and return-to-office trends, as well as “Open Source Intelligence” in the context of data management.

7. Which phrase or sentence best summarizes your perspective on the field you’ve been following in 2023?

“Anxious but excited,” is the phrase that best summarizes my view especially in tech-driven industries across the globe. On one hand, we are having significant advancements in artificial intelligence, which means we can come at innovations and efficiencies at a scale previously not achievable. However, this also means potential disruption to a lot of industries. Some might get left behind if we are not able to get ahead of the wave.

8. What product/company/technology/industry are you most looking forward to next year?

We have been exploring space for decades. With recent advancements in reusable materials and propulsion technologies, we might just achieve significant developments in the next years to come that will make space travel more accessible and viable than ever.

9. Do you believe AI has the potential to threaten humanity?

I think humanity poses a threat to humanity. AI will just be something that accelerates it if left unchecked. We therefore need better governance mechanisms that will ensure AI is not utilized for harmful applications and that AI itself will not have the means to do such on its own.

Note: The article was written by icebin and translated by Zinan Zhang.

Get ready for the annual insights from TechNode Content Team! The year 2023 can be considered a groundbreaking year in the technology field. As wrapping up this year, we gathered different insights from our content team. We’ll present nine Q&As, with timely updates every Wednesday and Friday in the following weeks!

Today, our Q&A comes from icebin, reporter at TechNode. icebin is a tech reporter based in Shanghai who focuses on Sustainability, EV, VR/AR, IoT, and New Material.

1. Which company has impressed you the most in 2023?

It’s BYD. This company has transitioned from one era to another. After years of dedicated efforts, BYD has become a leader in China’s EV market, with 1557 patent applications making it the company with the highest number of pure EV-related patent applications among the top four EV manufacturers in China. Leveraging their accumulated technology and patents in the battery field, coupled with the expansion of product categories, they achieved a remarkable annual sales figure of 3,024,417 vehicles, a year-on-year growth of 61.9%. With this impressive data, BYD not only fulfilled its goal of selling 3 million vehicles set at the beginning of the year but also secured the top spot in China’s annual automotive sales, claiming the global crown in new energy vehicle sales. The 3 million mark also set a new record for annual car sales in China.

2. Which company has surprised you the most in 2023?

The most surprising company for me is Huawei. Before the launch of the Apple 15 series, Huawei preemptively released and sold the new Mate 60 series, especially considering the chip restrictions. Additionally, Huawei has made a strong product layout in the automotive market, exerting significant competitive pressure on other car manufacturers.

3. Which industry professional/entrepreneur/startup founder has left the most profound impression on you in 2023?

The entrepreneur who has left a deep impression on me is Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. The products he has led have ushered in a new era of AI. The revolutionary AI chatbot, ChatGPT, introduced by OpenAI, connects extensive corpora to train the model, achieving conversations in chat scenarios almost similar to real human interaction. In the future, as intelligent applications in areas such as customer service, education, healthcare, and search engines continue to be implemented, ChatGPT, integrated with various industry applications, is set to witness the establishment of more paid business models.

4. What is the most memorable overseas event for you in 2023?

The overseas event that left the deepest impression on me this year is the continuous surge in NVIDIA’s stock price. This also signifies the industry’s recognition of its key role in AI sector. In the AI frenzy, NVIDIA has emerged as the biggest winner, surpassing a trillion-dollar market cap. The sudden popularity of ChatGPT has triggered a global AI race between major tech companies and startups, all eager to acquire NVIDIA’s H100 product. Jensen Huang referred to it as “the world’s first computer [chip] designed for generative AI”.

5. If you were to recommend one significant industry trend for everyone to follow, what would it be?

The industry trend that I’d like to highlight is Microsoft’s strategic layout in the field of AI. With Microsoft’s involvement in AI and its integration with the Windows and PC ecosystem, AI can now bring significant innovation in both software and hardware ecosystems.

6. What industry buzzword have you encountered the most in 2023?

Without a doubt, the hottest trend is AI. This term has made an impact across various industries, with almost every sector leveraging AI for innovation and breakthroughs. It can be foreseen that this trend will continue in the coming years.

7. Which phrase or sentence best summarizes your perspective on the field you’ve been following in 2023?

It can be described as “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend”. Whether in the field of AI, new energy vehicles, or consumer electronics, with the collaborative efforts of AI and related hardware and chips, the pace and diversity of changes in the world have become even more rapid.

8. What product/company/technology/industry are you most looking forward to next year?

Next year, what I am most looking forward to is the integration of AI in consumer electronics and personal digital products, breakthroughs in the MR/AR field, technological innovations in the new energy vehicle sector, and the refinement of technology in the field of intelligent driving. This includes leading enterprises both domestically and internationally. Of course, the actions of companies led by Musk next year are also worth paying attention to, as he always manages to bring unconventional breakthroughs and innovations.

9. Do you believe AI has the potential to threaten humanity?

From a technological perspective, AI, when used friendly, will undoubtedly significantly improve human work and life. However, technology can also be exploited by malicious actors, and what we need to do is take preventive measures. In the current trend, AI will not pose a threat to humanity; it will only assist humanity in entering a new era of development, resolving more conflicts.

Note: The article was written by Evan Huang and translated by Zinan Zhang.

Get ready for the annual insights from TechNode Content Team! The year 2023 can be considered a groundbreaking year in the technology field. As wrapping up this year, we gathered different insights from our content team. We’ll present nine Q&As, with timely updates every Wednesday and Friday in the following weeks!

Today, our Q&A comes from Evan Huang, reporter at TechNode. Evan Huang is a tech reporter based in Shanghai who focuses on consumer electronics, hardware, and AI.

1. Which company has impressed you the most in 2023?

Huawei. Under U.S. sanctions for over three years, Huawei’s business faced setbacks. However, the launch of Mate60 Pro on August 31 sparked a wave of enthusiasm. Huawei, now using self-developed chips again, is considered to break the U.S. technological blockade, showcasing the strength and resilience of Chinese technology.

2. Which company has surprised you the most in 2023?

Apple. iPhone, as a trendsetter in the smartphone industry, experienced minimal overall upgrades in 2023 which needed to be improved. Moreover, it is the first time that Apple hasn’t released any new iPad in the entire year. Since the initial launch of the iPad in 2010, Apple has consistently introduced new iPads each year, making 2023 an exception.

3. Which industry professional/entrepreneur/startup founder has left the most profound impression on you in 2023?

Lei Jun. On November 29th, Lei Jun, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi Group, made a personal donation of RMB 1.3 billion to Wuhan University where he graduated from. This is the largest individual cash donation received by any university in China. Lei Jun believes that basic disciplines have been relatively disadvantaged in universities in recent years. Therefore, he donated this amount to support fundamental research in six disciplines (mathematics, physics, chemistry, literature, history, and philosophy), technological innovation in the field of computer science, and the education of university students.

4. What is the most memorable overseas event for you in 2023?

In November, OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, faced a sudden dismissal, after a series of twists, he briefly joined Microsoft before ultimately returning to OpenAI to reclaim his position. Throughout this process, the major disagreement between Altman and former Chief Scientist Ilya at OpenAI revolved around the pace of commercialization. Ilya advocated for a slower approach, emphasizing the importance of interpretability and safety in AI products. In contrast, Altman and former President Greg held a stance of technological optimism, pushing for an active pursuit of commercialization paths and a new round of financing.

5. If you were to recommend one significant industry trend for everyone to follow, what would it be?

In September, Huawei announced the launch of HarmonyOS applications. It is said that the next-generation, HarmonyOS NEXT system base, is completely self-developed, eliminating traditional AOSP code and only supporting applications based on the HarmonyOS kernel and HarmonyOS system. This new design reduces 40% of redundant code, completely breaking free from the “skin” of Android. At the same time, by focusing on the development of HarmonyOS applications, Huawei can expand the influence of the HarmonyOS system and enhance the independent and controllable level of related technology and ecology.

6. What industry buzzword have you encountered the most in 2023?

Large Language Models. With the rapid development of technologies such as deep learning and big data, significant breakthroughs have been achieved in the training and application of large models. Large language models exhibit stronger generalization capabilities and higher performance, demonstrating outstanding abilities in areas such as speech recognition, natural language processing, computer vision, and more. The industry widely recognizes their enormous application potential in many commercial scenarios.

7. Which phrase or sentence best summarizes your perspective on the field you’ve been following in 2023?

“Seeking Change”. The Consumer Electronics Market is undergoing unprecedented transformation, with various emerging technologies and products continuously emerging. AI has brought a new atmosphere to hardware products in areas such as smartphones and smart homes, providing consumers with more choices and better experiences. At the same time, market competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and manufacturers need to keep pace with the times to meet consumer demands.

8. What product/company/technology/industry are you most looking forward to next year?

AI Agent. The AI Agent will connect to other services and solve practical problems, making the interaction between humans and AI more profound, rather than just simple input-output interactions.  For example, a mature AI Agent can significantly reduce the cost of software production.  Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, has expressed, “Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again.”

9. Do you believe AI has the potential to threaten humanity?

AI is a double-edged sword, and my answer is temporarily uncertain. AI creates more opportunities and possibilities, reshaping global business, technology, education, and other fields. Additionally, with the continuous improvement of AI’s capabilities in decision-making and execution, there may be some unpredictable and uncontrollable situations.   Moreover, the widespread adoption and application of AI may lead to excessive reliance on technology, potentially weakening certain fundamental skills and judgments in humans.   In this process, it is essential to closely monitor and establish appropriate regulatory and ethical frameworks to ensure that the development of AI has a positive long-term impact on humanity.

Note: The article was written by Penghui Li and translated by Zinan Zhang.

Get ready for the annual insights from TechNode Content Team! The year 2023 can be considered a groundbreaking year in the technology field. As wrapping up this year, we gathered different insights from our content team. We’ll present nine Q&As, with timely updates every Wednesday and Friday in the following weeks!

Today, our Q&A comes from Penghui Li, reporter at TechNode. Penghui is a tech reporter who focuses on the Southeast Asian VC Ecosystem and Companies Going Overseas.

1. Which company has impressed you the most in 2023?

Whether from the perspective of a netizen or a content creator, the generative AI craze sparked by ChatGPT over the whole year has frequently appeared in my daily life. I have gradually accepted and actively started using such tools to enhance my work efficiency. I look forward to more surprises from this type of technology.

2. Which company has surprised you the most in 2023?

It’s amazing that VinFast, a Vietnamese electric vehicle company, actually delivered its first EV in 2023. This company was founded in 2017, and the company announced its transition from fuel vehicles to electric vehicle manufacturing in 2021. In the second half of 2022, I always saw related news about the delivery of its first car on Christmas Day that year but it was still delayed. 

Before this, I have always had doubts about VinFast. Although I have seen too much news about car manufacturing, it is difficult for me to believe whether this young car company can produce cars as its pricing is benchmarked against Tesla, and its primary target market is also North America. In addition, the industry has always referred to it as the “Vietnamese Tesla.” The combination of these accolades and repeated delays makes it hard for people not to feel that it is a script. However, VinFast has indeed been produced.

3. Which industry professional/entrepreneur/startup founder has left the most profound impression on you in 2023?

Sam Altman. Before the recent conflicts within ChatGPT and OpenAI this year, as I have a slight interest in tokusatsu, “Ultraman” would more specifically refer to Tsuburaya’s Ultraman series in my memories (Altman and Ultraman have a similar translation in China) However, after the ChatGPT and OpenAI controversies, the various Chinese translations of Altman’s name. I hope that he can have a consistent Chinese translation of his name.

4. What is the most memorable overseas event for you in 2023?

The upheaval in TikTok’s Indonesian e-commerce business. What stands out to me is that, on the one hand, as a company, TikTok’s impact extends far beyond our conventional understanding of a business. On the other hand, looking at it from the perspective of a company going global, there have been significant changes compared to simply introducing products and services to overseas markets in the past.

However, in my opinion, when a startup gradually continues to mature and becomes a presence that industry insiders pay attention to and even influence the development of the industry, the things it undertakes will gradually surpass everyone’s imagination. At this point, interpreting these things purely from the perspective of right or wrong, or good or bad, becomes quite complex. From the standpoint of a content creator, this can make me feel an intangible pressure.

5. If you were to recommend one significant industry trend for everyone to follow, what would it be?

Cross-border Payment Linkage among Southeast Asian countries and between Southeast Asia and other regions. More specifically, this movement is made up of a series of specific events over 23 years, particularly cross-border payments and cross-border transfers.

Before the pandemic, there were large groups of tourists and travelers traveling between Southeast Asian countries every year. And as the effects of the pandemic have gradually passed, these movements have begun to return. The ease of payment will further promote the transactional activities in these cross-border behaviors. Almost every Southeast Asian country will have its QR code payment platform. If one account/one phone can be used in all countries, I believe more people will also start this kind of transaction behavior.

From my perspective, I would recommend that we focus on the impact of this process of increasing integration. When we mention Southeast Asia, it’s not hard to realize that the region is made up of many countries with different development paths and processes.

6. What industry buzzword have you encountered the most in 2023?

Funding Winter. Intuitively, our readers might notice that the funding reports I’ve written in 2023 have been significantly decreasing compared to the previous two years.

7. Which phrase or sentence best summarizes your perspective on the field you’ve been following in 2023?

“Back to the reasonable range” for the tech VC in Southeast Asia.

I’ve heard this from Southeast Asia-focused investors over the past year. The Southeast Asian VC community was experiencing a boom in 2021 and the first half of 2022. In comparison, Southeast Asia is currently undergoing a “financing winter.” Despite being an “underrated region”, their performance in the past few years does not seem to be a sustainable condition in the long term. On the journey of Southeast Asia’s “digital decade”, it has only completed one-third of the road.

8. What product/company/technology/industry are you most looking forward to next year?

Electric Vehicle/EV industry (both two and four-wheeled). On the one hand, it comes from Southeast Asia’s ambition to become a regional hub for EVs. On the other hand, the Southeast Asia area is also hosting a boom in EVs going overseas in China. 

9. Do you believe AI has the potential to threaten humanity?

Yes. My understanding of the threat is to have a harmful effect. AI may currently refer specifically to AIGC, and the main reason that makes me feel threatened is the increasing presence of AI voices including harassing phone calls and video content AI reading voice. AI content, such as the articles that are becoming more commonly produced by AI, usually seems to be well-written but is actually uninformed or even wrong in its opinions. There are quite a few people who use AI assistants to discuss issues with me.

I’m not saying that AI answers are wrong, but in terms of accuracy, AI-generated content can easily be misleading.

I also realize that AI is essentially a tool, and the value it can add depends on the perspective of the people who use it. What I’m worried about has existed before AIGC was created, though they’re likely to become more numerous and difficult to discern in the future.

Anyway, before more specific regulations and policies are finalized, this buzzword will bring more room for imagination and development value to the world, and at the same time, it will also produce negative impacts that cannot be ignored. As for the concern of AI occupying human jobs, I don’t think that’s what I can explore alone, and at least not in the short term for my job, it doesn’t have that possibility.

Get ready for the annual insights from TechNode Content Team! The year 2023 can be considered a groundbreaking year in the technology field. As wrapping up this year, we gathered different insights from our content team. We’ll be presenting nine Q&As, with timely updates every Wednesday and Friday in the following weeks!

Today, our Q&A comes from Cheyenne Dong, reporter at TechNode. Cheyenne is a tech reporter now based in Shanghai. She covers e-commerce and retail, blockchain, and Web3.

1. Which company has impressed you the most in 2023?

OpenAI. OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 led directly to the following year belonging to the wild year of generative artificial intelligence. Despite the subsequent launch of ChatGPT-like services by worldwide tech firms, OpenAI’s overwhelming success in AI has made it a challenge for rivals to keep up with its pace.

2. Which company has surprised you the most in 2023?

Alibaba. The Chinese e-commerce giant conducted eye-catching organizational overhauls throughout the past year, and each adjustment has been a big deal, both internally and to the public. What kind of energy the company will unleash in the new year to take on the competition in industries under its startling overhaul?

3. Which industry professional/entrepreneur/startup founder has left the most profound impression on you in 2023?

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. He was able to face around five hours of questioning by dozens of US lawmakers in March.

4. What is the most memorable overseas event for you in 2023?

OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman was in the center of media spotlight even before the board abruptly fired him, and this unexpected 72-hour-long firing event gives me a feeling that it’s more exciting than any TV series.

5. If you were to recommend one significant industry trend for everyone to follow, what would it be?

PDD’s market value exceeds that of Alibaba. This landmark event shows that Pinduoduo, which offers ultra-low-priced goods at a time of economic uncertainty, is emerging as the most challenging and disruptive force in China’s e-commerce sector.

6. What industry buzzword have you encountered the most in 2023?

AI, companies in almost every field are looking to rebuild their services and products with the power of AI.

7. Which phrase or sentence best summarizes your perspective on the field you’ve been following in 2023?

Juan or in the English context it can be understood as competition for even some small factors has reached unhealthy levels, like which platform offers ultra-low prices for the same items, delivery times, or providing near-zero threshold after-sales service.

8. What product/company/technology/industry are you most looking forward to next year?

OpenAI’s GPT-5.

9. Do you believe AI has the potential to threaten humanity?

Not at this stage, instead, human beings could be significantly more productive if they had better AI tools, but the future is not easy to predict.

Get ready for the annual insights from TechNode Content Team! The year 2023 can be considered a groundbreaking year in the field of technology. As wrapping up this year, we gathered different insights from our content team. We’ll be presenting nine Q&As, with timely updates every Wednesday and Friday in the following weeks!

Today, our Q&A comes from Jill Shem, reporter at TechNode. Jill is based in Shanghai and covers news from across China’s tech landscape while keeping a close eye on developments in the fields of electric vehicles and autonomous driving. 

1. Which company has impressed you the most in 2023?

BYD retained its top position as China’s top EV maker with sales of more than 3 million units last year. The annual growth rate was also much higher than the industry average despite the competition, and it looks like the giant maker will stay on top in the foreseeable future.

2. Which company has surprised you the most in 2023?

Huawei surprised everyone with a strong bouceback in EV sales, as the technology giant delivered more than 56,000 Aito-branded EVs with manufacturing partner Seres over the last three months of 2023. The company was amazingly adaptive that it finally “revived a dead brand,” as Huawei’s consumer business boss Richard Yu has said. 

3. Which industry professional/entrepreneur/startup founder has left the most profound impression on you in 2023?

Huawei’s Richard Yu, probably one of the best-known workaholics in the Chinese auto and tech industries. I watched him speak on at least five press conferences throughout the year and witnessed how he made the phrase “far ahead of rivals” a trending term on the Chinese internet. 

4. What is the most memorable overseas event for you in 2023?

The ongoing anti-subsidy investigation into China-made electric vehicles by the European Commission was unexpected and could have a far-reaching impact on Chinese rising carmakers. This, along with the US Inflation Reduction Act, could herald more regulations and even sanctions against Chinese electric cars and take the tensions between China and the West to a new level. 

5. If you were to recommend one significant industry trend for everyone to follow, what would it be?

It will be interesting to know what efforts will be made by global auto majors to defend their market share against Chinese competitors. Any good updates from Volkswagen regarding its partnerships with Xpeng, whether Toyota would change its mind and be more open to battery EVs, or would Tesla finally be able to roll out its full-self driving software this year? I am happy to find out. 

6. What industry buzzword have you encountered the most in 2023?

Nei Juan, a buzzword meaning involution in Chinese. Usually we just call it Juan for short and that’s what everybody says and what I’ve seen from this huge but increasingly crowded EV market. Automakers launched their tech-packed, luxury-styled new models at stunningly low prices and yet some of them still can’t capture a decent volume. China is undoubtly the most violent regional market on the planet and an industry veteran told me that if you can survive here, you will make it anywhere else in the world. 

7. Which phrase or sentence best summarizes your perspective on the field you’ve been following in 2023?

Upmarket. That’s probably one of the most significant developments when we take a look into what Chinese automakers have done in the past year. It would be hard to imagine 10 years ago that a Chinese-branded car sells good at more than RMB 300,000 (RMB 41,880), but this is happening right now and right here. How far will they go?

8. What product/company/technology/industry are you most looking forward to next year?

I very much expect the availability of automated driving functions that would allow cars to steer, brake, and navigate on Chinese complex city streets. I took several really smooth test rides offered by automakers and self-driving car companies in the past year and that was amazing. I look forward the technology being more reliable and affordable in 2024, bringing future into reality faster. 

9. Do you believe AI has the potential to threaten humanity?

I am a bit worried about the potential for humans to lose control of AI as we’ve seen the technology advanced at unprecedented rates in the past year. I am hoping for more dialogues and collaborations among nations and businesses for AI regulation and transparency.

Get ready for the annual insights from TechNode Content Team! The year 2023 can be considered a groundbreaking year in the field of technology. As wrapping up this year, we gathered different insights from our content team. We’ll be presenting nine Q&As, with timely updates every Wednesday and Friday in the following weeks!

Our first Q&A comes from Jessie Wu, our reporter at TechNode. Jessie is a tech reporter based in Shanghai. She covers consumer electronics, semiconductors, and the gaming industry for TechNode. 

1. Which company has impressed you the most in 2023?

Huawei introduced the Mate60 series featuring the cutting-edge Kirin 9000S chip, manufactured in China by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). This chip marks a significant advancement as it is the first chip from the Chinese manufacturer to be built on a 7nm node process.

2. Which company has surprised you the most in 2023?

ByteDance has scaled down its gaming business following reports of significant job cuts. ByteDance currently struggled to deliver high-grossing games and grab gaming market share, despite entering the gaming market in 2019 to challenge the domestic industry leaders like Tencent and NetEase.

3. Which industry professional/entrepreneur/startup founder has left the most profound impression on you in 2023?

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun set a record by making a cash donation of RMB 1.3 billion ($183 million) to his alma mater, Wuhan University. This contribution, the largest ever from an alumnus to a Chinese university, is expected to support computer science innovations, students’ development, and research across six fundamental disciplines.

4. What is the most memorable overseas event for you in 2023?

ChatGPT can generate unique images based on a conversation. If users describe the vision, ChatGPT will provide related visuals and further revisions within the chat.

5. If you were to recommend one significant industry trend for everyone to follow, what would it be?

In June 2023, the Dutch government implemented additional export controls on specific advanced semiconductor production equipment. Consequently, ASML needs to apply for licenses for selling advanced chip-making machines to China due to this ban.

6. What industry buzzword have you encountered the most in 2023?

AI is being employed by companies to enhance employee productivity. AI can manage repetitive tasks throughout an organization, allowing employees to concentrate on innovative solutions, complex problem-solving, and meaningful work.

7. Which phrase or sentence best summarizes your perspective on the field you’ve been following in 2023?

Challenge. Huawei and Xiaomi are focusing on creating their own operating systems for devices, as domestic tech companies may face potential restrictions on accessing crucial hardware or software of US origin.

8. What product/company/technology/industry are you most looking forward to next year?

Black Myth: Wukong is an upcoming action role-playing game by Chinese developer Game Science, based on the classical 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. This martial arts title might be China’s very first AAA game.

9. Do you believe AI has the potential to threaten humanity?

Currently, I think that AI is not a threat for humans. Because we are currently in the stage of capitalist society, and the essence of capitalist society is built on consumption. However, AI itself cannot consume, which means it is destined to be unable to fully replace humans.

Chinese EV maker Zeekr made a splash on Sept. 1 when it launched its first high-performance, track-focused vehicle – one which it hopes will establish new benchmarks in the field and compete with established brands such as Porsche and Tesla.

The 001 FR, which Zeekr is calling the world’s best-performance electric vehicle, uses four silicon-carbine motors for sophisticated torque vectoring, producing a powerful 1,265 brake horsepower, compared with 887 hp of the Porsche 918 Spyder.

The high-performance brake, completely redesigned from the original 001, can, the company claims, accelerate from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 2.07 seconds, faster than the 2.1-second acceleration to 60 mph of the Tesla Model S Plaid. The new model promises to be an everyday supercar, with a rapid battery charge from 10% to 80% in 15 minutes.

The debut comes at a time when Chinese manufacturers are rushing to launch premium offerings with eye-catching performance specs in a quest to upscale and compete in the global luxury EV segment. 

Zeekr has not released pricing details for the 001 FR, but has said the car will be made available in limited supply of up to 99 units a month from October. This will bring it into competition with another high-end rival, as BYD begins deliveries of its RMB 1 million ($150,000) electric SUV later this month. 

“Global luxury brands have ruled the performance car segment throughout the era of internal combustion engines … but Chinese electric vehicles are now capable of competing head-to-head against European top-tier supercars,” Andy An, chairman of Geely Auto Group and CEO of Zeekr told reporters in an interview after the launch. 

TechNode also spoke to Chen Qi, vice president of Zeekr and a former Huawei executive, about the company’s approach to autonomous driving as it looks to expand overseas. Geely’s premium EV subsidiary is establishing its footprint in Europe as part of its goal to deliver 140,000 units this year while looking to sell shares publicly in the US. 

Below are highlights from a group interview after the launch, which have been translated, condensed, and edited for clarity:

On limited production of the 001 FR 

An: The Zeekr 001 FR comes with a comprehensive list of high-performance equipment among which are extremely rare parts mostly needed and reserved for professional race cars. 

For example, more than 70% of Brembo’s carbon-ceramic brake systems are provided to today’s top-tier race cars, with less than 20,000 units available for road cars annually. We are individually crafting the 001 FR to ensure the highest standards of quality are attained, which together with other factors restricts the sports car’s output capacity to less than 100 units a month. 

Our customers have reacted remarkably well: the first 99 units of the 001 FR were sold out in 15 seconds after reservations opened [on Sept. 1] and the number exceeded our annual production capacity 20 minutes after that. I think this is because the 001 FR represents the state of the art as a sports wagon, which could improve sales and help establish Zeekr’s image as a technology-driven company. 

On Zeekr’s self-driving roadmap 

Chen: Zeekr has pursued a dual strategy of initiating in-house development as well as outsourcing to catch up with rivals in self-driving technologies. We are pushing forward a new program to bring autonomous driving for urban scenarios with future models using Nvidia’s semiconductor chips.

Meanwhile, it requires a relatively long period of testing and validation for existing Zeekr models to navigate Chinese urban roads with Mobileye’s advanced driver-assist technology. Mobileye has been an early mover in creating its digital maps to enable self-driving cars and we will use its assisted driving systems mainly in the European market. 

Automakers are deploying assisted driving technology on a city-by-city basis because more effort is needed to enhance the neural network’s generalization ability in various practical driving scenarios. [Editor’s note: Transformer is a new deep neural network architecture first mentioned in a 2017 Google paper and later used by Tesla to convert location data gathered by cameras into three-dimensional space for motion planning and control. Many assisted driving software have since been written using the transformer algorithm.]

We are accelerating efforts to roll out driver assistance software, first applicable on major Chinese highways, and we will then let our cars navigate complex urban streets automatically. 

On Zeekr’s US listing plan  

An: Zeekr will venture into the capital markets. But it is not the top priority for our management at the moment. There is no update on Zeekr’s listing plan following approval from the Chinese regulator. We will keep an eye on investor sentiment before taking a chance to go public. 

Zeekr has set an annual delivery target of 650,000 units by 2025 as one of the top three luxury EV makers worldwide since its inception and remains confident under pressure. We’ve made significant progress in a comprehensive way, including building a substantial cost advantage over competitors other than Tesla, and will reach the goal with the launch of a new model later this year, followed by two all-new ones in 2024 and 2025. 

On global expansion 

An: Zeekr started exports to Europe with 500 Zeekr 001 cars last month and will begin vehicle delivery first in Sweden and the Netherlands as early as September and in several other European countries next year. We are also preparing to enter regional markets including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, but will keep our focus on Europe at the moment. 

We expect to see a significant contribution to sales from overseas markets in the future. Chinese electric vehicles are gaining momentum in the global auto industry and we will make use of this to go upscale and expand globally.

READ MORE: Experts bullish on Chinese automakers’ global push as SAIC seeks EU foothold

Speed is key if Continental and its auto clients are to have any hope of defending their market share in China, given the competition they face. Auto suppliers might be used to providing very specific solutions for single customers in Europe, “but in China this is not a good idea,” said Frank Petznick, Executive Vice President of the Autonomous Mobility Business Area at Continental AG.

While foreign auto executives express nervousness about the rise of their Chinese rivals, Continental’s global mobility head says he is not surprised. He says he has been “pretty aware of” of the pace of China’s progress in electric vehicle technology for a long time.

Offering products ranging from tires to dashboard displays, Continental is now growing its business in high-performance computers for automated driving, with GAC’s Hyper GT luxury coupe one of its early adopters. Speaking on April 19 on the sidelines of the Auto Shanghai show, Petznick told TechNode that companies must be lean, localized, and standardized in developing technology for the world’s biggest and most vibrant auto market.

Having lived in China for a decade before the Covid-19 outbreak, he also gave a broader perspective on the Chinese autonomous car industry and competition between global Tier-1 suppliers and local tech companies. The German auto parts giant is pushing to develop advanced electric and connected solutions not only for the China operations of multinational car majors but also for local manufacturers with global ambition.

READ MORE: Baidu and Huawei take on global giants with new in-car software offerings at Auto Shanghai 2023

Below are Petznick’s comments on the rapidly changing Chinese auto industry. The text has been condensed and edited for clarity.

China speed

The Chinese market is working completely differently from Europe, and much faster. In order to be prepared for the market, we need local companies that can put pressure on us to speed up and become more dynamic in the market. That’s why we decided to form a joint venture with Horizon Robotics two years ago. We wanted to make a Chinese joint venture that would be closer to the local market.

Global automakers underestimated China’s speed [with regard to EV transition] over the last three years, but now they are getting super nervous because they have seen what’s going on. EV companies in China have a higher demand for autonomous driving. They integrate the entire technology into their cars and can sell to local young people who just want to buy fancy cars.

A lot of the cost of ADAS [Advanced Driver Assistance System] comes from developing specific software, and what Continental can do very well is integration. We figure out what is a common part, roll out standard components in a fast and cost-competitive way, and then add specific functions to make a difference. I think this is the key [to success] in China, but many Western companies have not understood that yet.

Think local

We are working closely with our Chinese customers and developing systems in China and for China. Global automakers in China also want to use local solutions because they are afraid of being too slow and too late. The other thing is that many Chinese brands are going global very fast. It means we could also help some of our Chinese customers use a more global approach.

Every Chinese brand now has a global ambition, though new OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] are much faster at going global than traditional ones. Since the border opened [late last year], we have seen a growing number of Chinese OEMs coming to our headquarters in Frankfurt and Hanover to talk about having a global setup. In the meantime, we have the same discussions when we come here.

We have different solutions for different regions, but the software and functions are the same. We would like to help the global OEMs develop in China and help local OEMs develop in the global world. This is what we are trying to do: bridge the two.

Autonomous driving

There are some very good startup players in the US, but I believe robotaxis will become real in China before the rest of the world. There are still many difficulties in getting approval for vehicles with close to Level 3 driving capabilities. Some cities have allowed this, others have not. It’s very scattered. 

I see significantly faster development in terms of the infrastructure and the regulations needed in China. That’s why I think China could be the world’s first robotaxi-friendly country. The rest of the world could focus more on commercial trucks, which are more of a highway thing and not as complicated as robotaxis in the cities.

We are developing software basically for all levels of autonomous driving by using a lot of the expertise from our partners. The competition is very tough. You always see companies jumping forward and others catching up, but the good news is that if you can survive in this market, you can survive anywhere in the world.

Competing with tech giants

Tech companies such as Huawei and Baidu are going to be Tier-1 suppliers, while we are shifting to be more on the tech side. We need to be more agile and have a more local mindset in order to be fast enough.

We have launched a couple of products, such as a full-fledged smart camera based on processors from a Chinese partner. We are also making high-performance computers where ADAS will also be a part of it. We will be going into series production with the partners we have now. You will see these cars on the road very soon.

I don’t think we have to turn ourselves into a new Baidu. This would be going too far over to the other side. Chinese tech firms are trying to be more Tier-1 and we are trying to be more like a tech company. We are basically learning from each other. We have discussed globally that we have to become a tech player, and in the China context, we need to do that tomorrow.

AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT has upped its game in the months since it was launched. As the runaway success develops, three recent key announcements indicate that rapid commercialization of the technology is likely to commence. On Mar.14, OpenAI launched a GPT-4 model which supports multi-modal output and surpasses the GPT-3.5 model ChatGPT in complex reasoning and performance. Upon its release, GPT-4 attracted widespread attention and dissemination. Then, on Mar.16, Baidu released its ERNIE Bot, a chatbot rival to ChatGPT. Prior to this, on Mar.1, OpenAI announced the opening of ChatGPT’s API (Application Programming Interface) and reduced usage costs by 90%.

As AI technology develops, large-scale AI models such as GPT are seeing falling costs. So why are AI models becoming more affordable?

John Zhang, founder of StarBitech, discussed this issue with TechNode in a Q&A format. StarBitech is a digital content asset technology company founded in 2015, jointly invested in by the Shanghai Tree-Graph Blockchain Research Institute and digital display company Fengyuzhu. The company recently received support from Microsoft and OpenAI and will leverage its strengths in Chinese natural language processing and local compliance to develop AIGC (AI-generated content) services in visual content creation and marketing content creation. These services will be supported by GPT, DALL-E, and reinforcement learning, providing AI capabilities geared towards marketing, gaming, animation, culture and tourism, and government.

Why are large AI models like GPT becoming increasingly affordable, and will other mainstream models follow the trend?

The decreasing cost of large AI models is mainly due to the continuous advancement of technology and intensification of competition. According to OpenAI, the cost of using the GPT-3.5-turbo model, which is used by ChatGPT, is only $0.002 for 1000 tokens (approximately 750 words), reducing the cost of using GPT-3.5 by 90%. The “turbo” in the GPT model refers to an optimized version of GPT-3.5 that has faster response times.

The significant reduction in OpenAI’s costs may have come from various optimizations, including adjustments to the model architecture, algorithm efficiency and GPU, at business-level, model-level, quantization, kernel-level, and compiler-level.

Adjustments to the model architecture mainly refer to techniques such as pruning, quantization, and fine-tuning to reduce the size of the model. Those measures help to improve its performance and accuracy while reducing computational and parameter costs, and lowering inference time and cost.

Using efficient algorithms and GPU parallel computing, companies can speed up calculations and improve computing efficiency, gaining algorithm efficiency and GPU optimization in the process. Business-level optimization refers to optimizing the performance and efficiency of the entire system, by using caching and prediction techniques to reduce latency and repeated calls. Model-level optimization can be achieved by streamlining the network structure. Quantization optimization can be achieved by reducing computational and parameter costs by using low-precision calculations. Compiler-level optimization uses efficient compilers to optimize code execution and computing efficiency.

In addition, as more and more companies and research institutions enter the field of large AI models, such as Google’s LaMDA (137B) and PaLM (540B), DeepMind’s Gopher (280B), BigScience’s BLOOM (175B), Meta’s OPT (175B), NVIDIA’s TNLG v2 (530B), and Tsinghua University’s GLM-130B (130B), market competition has become intense, and price competition has also begun. This factor has led to a continuous decrease in the prices of AI models. (The numbers in parentheses represent the parameters of these AI models.)

Whether other mainstream models will follow this trend of decreasing prices or not depends on their scale and performance, as well as their level of demand. If these models are comparable in scale and performance to the GPT-3 model and there is strong market demand, they may also see price reductions. However, if these models are smaller in scale, lower in performance, or demand weakens, prices may not drop significantly. 

In the long run, with the continuous development of technology and the progress of software and hardware technology, the cost of processing large amounts of data and training models will gradually decrease, and the prices of large language models will follow. In addition, as more and more companies and organizations turn to large language models, market competition will push prices down. Of course, the specific extent and timing of such price reductions cannot be predetermined because they depend on the supply relationship and quality of models on the market. Of course, for some high-end models, the price may remain buoyant as high-quality, high-performance, high-value-added models may require more computing resources and professional knowledge.

Did these large AI models become more powerful and intelligent while they become more affordable? Do you agree with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s statement about the new AI Moore’s Law, which states that the total amount of AI intelligence doubles every 18 months?

I agree with the new AI Moore’s Law — the decrease in costs and increase in applications will also increase the amount of language data and corpus that can be learned by AI, thereby enhancing its capabilities. Starting in 2022, the global internet environment has entered a new era of large-scale AI intelligence, where there is constant “Turing testing”. Unlike the image-based AI of recent years, language-based AI is more like the human brain, with a broader and deeper range of influences. However, the current level of AI’s capabilities still largely depends on hardware, especially the GPU’s high-performance capabilities, and supply. Therefore, AI’s development is strongly positively correlated with Moore’s law of chips.

What are some key factors driving cost reductions in large AI models?

1. Algorithmic improvements: New technologies are constantly being iterated and developed. These are more efficient at using computational resources and data, which reduces the costs of training and inference.

2. Hardware improvements: With advancements in hardware technology, such as the emergence of specialized chips like GPUs and TPUs, more efficient computing power is available to accelerate training and inference processes, thus lowering costs.

3. Dataset size: This is critical to AI training. Larger and higher quality datasets provide more information, leading to improved accuracy and generalization of models. Additionally, more efficient data processing and storage techniques can help reduce data costs.

4. Reusable pre-trained models: Pre-trained models have become an important way to train large models. Models such as BERT and GPT have already demonstrated their capabilities. These models can serve as base models to train other models, reducing training time and costs.

5. Distributed computing: Breaking down the training process into multiple tasks and running them on multiple computers can greatly shorten training time and costs.

ChatGPT has become the talk in China’s tech and business communities these days, with major Chinese tech companies racing to prove they have a similar capability or are developing similar services. TechNode talked to John Zhang, CEO of StarBitech, a digital asset startup based in Shanghai and supported by Microsoft for Startups, on why Chinese tech majors are rushing to push out their own versions of ChatGPT. Below is an edited version of the conversation.

1. Why are Chinese tech companies developing their own AI chatbots like ChatGPT? For example, Baidu announced last week that its look-a-like product, ERNIE Bot, or Wenxin Yiyan in Chinese, will be launched in March. 

There are three reasons for this. First, from a market perspective, ChatGPT is currently not available to Chinese users. They can’t use it as easily as overseas users. So it’s inevitable that there will be a local ChatGPT-like service to satisfy demand. 

Second, from a technological perspective, most large language models (LLMs) currently available on the market, like ChatGPT, are trained on English as the primary language. Their natural language processing (NLP) performance in Chinese is still inferior to that of English. So a model trained with Chinese as the primary language will further improve user effectiveness.

The third reason is data security. AI generates content after going through a large amount of data training. And OpenAI seems to gradually shift from being a non-profit project to a market-oriented one, so there could be uncertainty in the future. Additionally, mainland China requires all data to be locally stored, but OpenAI does not have a team in the country, making it difficult to meet regulatory requirements for local data storage and maintenance.

2. Can China’s AI chatbot compete with ChatGPT and its peers? 

In the short term, it’s still difficult for Chinese AI chatbots to compete. OpenAI entered the stage of large-scale GPU cluster training after getting investment from Microsoft. It’s said that OpenAI owns thousands of Nvidia A100 chips, and Microsoft’s billion-dollar investment was mostly in Microsoft’s Azure cloud resources. Microsoft and OpenAI have just begun the next round of financing and collaboration, which means that in three years, they have burned billions of dollars in cloud resources on training. Such a large-scale investment is very rare in China’s internet circle, especially in underlying infrastructure technology. Most of the big investments in China are more focused on the application side. 

But in the long run, China’s AI chatbot will become more powerful in the future. The country has superior algorithm engineers, a unified large market, abundant application scenarios, and data sources, and cost advantages over Microsoft Azure compared to Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud. 

3. Do you think China is ready in terms of big data and language models?

In terms of big data, China is ahead of the game. It’s highly digitized, so has access to abundant data and a complete industrial chain. However, when it comes to language models, there’s still room for improvement. Currently, models like GPT-3.5 used in chatGPT are large models that require significant investment and are slower in seeing returns, which isn’t an attractive option for many Chinese investors. As a result, only a few major internet companies have participated, with limited investment, slowing China’s progress in language models. But the popularity of ChatGPT offers a good warning for both Chinese investors and internet companies. I expect to see larger investments in the future.

4. How would Chinese AI chatbots differ from others, regarding application and regulations? 

Currently, in China, large-scale chatbots are applied in NLP tasks such as machine translation, intelligent customer service, and Q&A platforms. As the development of LLM progresses, China will also popularize AI chatbots based on LLM. 

AI chatbots developed in China should be: first, eloquent in Chinese expressions. That is, they need to be able to understand Chinese commands. In addition, for a better communication experience, the chatbot must have knowledge of Chinese culture and history, and communicate in a way that fits the Chinese language style and expression. For example, the same word may have different meanings and emotions in different contexts. Furthermore, the chatbot will provide more personalized services based on Chinese users’ habits and needs, such as different payment methods or ethnic customs unique to China.

Chinese-developed chatbots also need to comply with Chinese laws and regulations, including its Data Security Law, Cybersecurity Law, Personal Information Protection Law, and Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services. These laws aim to protect personal information (prevent its illegal acquisition, use, and dissemination), prevent information leaks and misuse, safeguard network security, prevent network attacks and fraudulent activities, and regulate internet information services. With the increasing popularity of chatbots and the continuous improvement of Chinese laws and policies, it is expected that more comprehensive and targeted regulations will be developed in the future to regulate chatbots.

5. Has your team used GPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer, OpenAI’s language model upon which ChatGPT is developed)? What challenges and limitations do you see with this tool?

• Biases. The model is trained on a large amount of text data. If trained data contains biases, the model will also exhibit them. For example, if there is a lack of Chinese language data, particularly in Chinese history, culture, and society, the model may output biased information.
• The model lacks a broad, bird-eye view perspective. Although GPT can maintain a sense of coherence in context, it lacks the ability to think more broadly. 
• Lack of language diversity. GPT is trained mostly based on English material, limiting its compatibility and understanding of other languages.
• High computation cost. GPT is a very large neural network model, with parameter counts ranging from millions to tens of millions. The model size ranges from tens of megabytes to several gigabytes, going up to hundreds of gigabytes. Training such a model costs a significant amount of computing resources and time.

6. Has your team used any China-developed AI language models? How do they compare to GPT?

Currently, with self-developed Chinese AI language models: 

• Some can support different voice responses, which are not currently supported by GPT.
• Regarding language support, there is a greater focus on Chinese-language communication, while GPT has a deeper understanding of English.
• In the application field, Chinese models are more narrowly focused on dialogue generation. To compare, GPT is a language generation model that can be used in text generation, code writing, and more.
• In terms of communication, Chinese models tend to deliver short-sentence communication, while GPT has a strong understanding of long sentences.

7. What are some features or functions that your team would like to achieve using AI language models, but have yet to do?

Current AI-powered chatbots may have achieved impressive results, but there is still room for improvement. One area is the understanding of context and emotions. Chatbots have a limited understanding of things such as one word having different meanings based on the context. 

Another issue is that chatbots can lack coherence in continuous communication on the same topic. Moreover, they lack creativity, as they primarily integrate and sort existing knowledge. This means they do not meet the requirement for independent thinking and creating new ideas.

8. Could you give us an introduction to your company?

StarBitech is a digital content asset technology company founded in 2015. It is jointly invested in by the Shanghai Tree-Graph Blockchain Research Institute and Fengyuzhu and is located at the Microsoft Accelerator in the Caohejing Development Zone in Shanghai. The company focuses on providing individuals and businesses with algorithm-driven digital asset creation and publishing services. StarBitech has worked with companies such as China Merchants Bank, Huawei, LVMH, Shanghai Public Security Jing’an Branch, and the Shanghai Technology Exchange.

The company has recently received support from Microsoft and OpenAI and will leverage its strengths in Chinese natural language processing and local compliance to develop AIGC (AI-generated content) services in fields such as chatbots, visual content creation, and marketing content creation. These services will be supported by GPT, DALL-E, and reinforcement learning, providing AI capabilities for industries such as marketing, gaming, animation, culture and tourism, and government.

Although billions of dollars have been spent on pursuing breakthroughs in electric vehicle batteries, global automakers General Motors, Hyundai, and Honda believe there is still a long way to go to bring next-generation battery technologies to the market.

Speaking on Dec. 14 during an online conference held by SES, a New York-listed battery maker, executives from the world’s major automakers said they are still looking for a pathway to scaling lithium-metal batteries, which could offer higher energy density at a lower weight than existing batteries.

Backed by a list of big auto names that includes GM, Hyundai, and Honda, SES now expects its lithium-metal batteries to be mass-adopted first in drones for freight delivery services over the next three years, according to chief executive Hu Qichao. He added that the company would not introduce EV batteries until after 2025.

Lithium-metal batteries have pure metal lithium in the anode and come without the carbon materials that existing lithium-ion batteries use. Their adoption could allow automakers to develop EVs with a longer driving range and more cabin space.

Industry players are also racing to develop solid-state batteries with a lithium-metal anode, which has a solid electrolyte to enable charging and discharging and is viewed as being safer than those currently in use. SES’s products use liquid materials like today’s lithium-ion batteries and therefore have been considered “a bridge” between existing offerings and solid-state ones.

Other than the challenges in commercializing the newest battery technologies, representatives from the three automakers, SES, Canadian mining group Ivanhoe Mines, and Chinese lithium producer Tianqi Lithium talked about the ongoing US push for supply-chain decoupling from China at the Dec. 14 event.

The text below has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Timothy Grewe, director of electrification strategy, General Motors

We’re very excited about the lithium-metal battery and accelerating it into the marketplace. General Motors has a dedicated EV architecture that we call Ultium, and we specifically designed it to accept this new technology with minimum disruption in the manufacturing process. 

We’re aggressively pursuing this technology and trying to accelerate it as fast as possible. We think we’ve proven the durability of SES’s battery samples with 150,000 miles demonstrated in the lab. The next step is: “How do we get it into people’s hands?”

As we expand into this light-duty, high-volume application, there’s going to be a natural localization. That’s true for anything that we do in a high-volume automotive business. And now we have some of these accelerants, such as the Inflation Reduction Act or some of the other moves by the miners to make the supply chain more local where people use products and we can develop the whole ecosystem.

One of the most important things in high-volume manufacturing is always securing a stable supply. That’s always high value to us and fundamental in our business model. How do we make sure we never get a production interruption? We have numerous processes and contracts to make sure that happens.

Yongjun Jang, global R&D master, Hyundai

To make a battery with higher energy density, lithium metal could be the next-generation material for the anode, and there are two different pathways within it: the liquid approach and the solid-state approach.

Lithium-metal batteries use high-concentrated liquid electrolytes, so it is necessary to induce stable redox reactions to prevent excessive depletion of the liquid electrolyte and the lithium-metal anode at the interface. On the other hand, all-solid-state batteries use solid electrolytes, and it is necessary for solid electrolytes to maintain continuous close contact with lithium metal and prevent short circuits of the battery.

For these reasons, both electrolytes are important factors in determining the long-term durability of higher energy density batteries. It becomes even more sensitive and important in large-format batteries than in smaller ones. We should solve these issues before the commercialization of these new batteries.

SES is developing lithium-metal battery technology rapidly with the manufacturing completeness of large-format, 50Ah high energy density battery cells. If the long-term stability of the battery is secured by applying artificial intelligence technology, it will greatly help automotive companies.

Yoshiya Joshua Fujiwara, expert engineer, Honda

Honda focuses on safe, reliable, and low-cost technology, such as all-solid-state battery technology with lithium-metal anode. We think that’s the holy grail of low-cost battery technology due to its high energy density. We hope to realize commercialization within this decade, before 2030.

The approach SES is making is a more hybrid-based, lithium-ion-like manufacturing process. Honda is working on both technologies simultaneously. We don’t know which one is a cheaper way at the moment, but all-solid-state technology is new compared with what SES is utilizing.

Localization is one of our principles. We have been operating facilities and building supply chains locally in the US since the beginning of the last century. Honda will do the same for electric vehicles, and we are focusing on the US and China, the two major markets where we need to establish our supply chain individually. In particular, it is urgent for us to establish a supply chain in North America due to the Inflation Reduction Act. We believe it is important for us to control and integrate our supply chain locally.

Alice Lei, senior analyst, Tianqi Lithium

As an upstream player in the battery supply chain, Tianqi focuses a lot on lithium-related material innovations, such as lithium sulfur and lithium metal. That’s why we invested in SES, as we are trying to work with downstream battery cell makers to ensure we know what kind of lithium materials they want. We are quite excited about introducing new battery technologies to the market, but it will take a lot of courage and time to commercialize a disruptive technology like full solid-state battery.

We believe that the globalized battery supply chain that has been built in the past decade will probably be changed to be more localized in the next few decades. The Inflation Reduction Act has clarified that most of the critical minerals and materials could be produced in the US and we think it’s a trend that Europe will probably have its own battery act in the future. Therefore, it is important to choose our next location of expansion to comply with the trend and deal with geopolitical tensions.

Hu Qichao, founder and CEO, SES

Regarding ramping up the supply chain for new technology, our lithium-metal battery shares a lot of the supply chain with the current lithium-ion batteries, such as the cathode and manufacturing process. However, there are different parts and the current supply chain for lithium anodes is very fragmented and insufficient.

So we are working with partners to make the process, from mining to the final anode, as simple, streamlined, optimized, and with as few players involved as possible. I think that could be a really key factor to ramp up the supply chain for lithium-metal batteries. 

On geopolitical issues, we do recognize this manufacturing renaissance in North America where there is a lot of potential for battery manufacturing: abundant raw materials, fairly low-cost electricity, and access to well-trained labor and high technology. So we are preparing to build this entire supply chain in North America, for example, electrolyte, anode, and battery cell. This trend offers a lot of opportunities.

Robert Friedland, founder and executive co-chairman, Ivanhoe Mines

Every action begets an equal and opposite counterreaction. When you Balkanize the world economy, you stress the integrated world economy on the supply side. That means the critical raw materials we need to enable this energy revolution become even more important and that’s why we call this the revenge of the miners.

We’ve identified very important lithium resources in the US that can produce lithium metal quickly and efficiently. We’ve been looking at new ways to make lithium metal foil and the types of deposits that will enable us to actually do that. All of these instruments will be part of the orchestra that’s required for the US to have its own secure domestic supply chain for new battery technologies.

Lithium metal has the highest energy density on the anode side of the battery. So we will be a very low-cost lithium-metal producer and solve part of that problem. For the copper, nickel, and cobalt, that’s what we’ve been doing for the past decades. We intend to ensure that the entire supply chain can be audited, carefully studied, and done in a better and more responsible way.

Chinese tech giant Baidu recently showed off its AI capabilities with the unveiling of a newly “completed” ink painting by Chinese painter Lu Xiaoman (1903 – 1965), which was finished by the firm’s deep learning-based art generation platform. 

As part of the presentation of the artwork, Baidu held a roundtable discussion with local auction house Duo Yun Xuan on Nov. 16 in Shanghai. The two partnered on the completion of Lu’s work, which the beloved 20th-century cultural figure had left unfinished.

This discussion presented two attempts to complete Lu’s original unfinished work: one is from famous Chinese artist Le Zhenwen, and the other is from Baidu Wenxin Yige, an art generation platform developed on Baidu’s deep-learning framework PaddlePaddle. The intention is to offer a comparison between the AI interpretation of the work and that of a human artist.

According to Baidu, its version of the work went through four phases: AI learning, AI painting, AI coloring, and theme poem composition. During the process, Baidu partnered with Duo Yun Xuan to collect public ink paintings to train models and reach a better outcome.

The twin artworks will be sold on Dec. 8 at Duo Yun Xuan’s 30th-anniversary auction event.

Below are comments on the project from Xiao Xinyan, chief architect of Baidu Wenxin Yige. His words have been translated, edited, and condensed for clarity. 

How does AI generate such artwork?

In short, AI will shuffle and compose the concepts and datasets it has learned previously, which is somewhat of a knowledge presentation.

From a technical point of view, AI learns before it paints, just as human beings do. It is trained from a vast amount of data in image-text matches. Every painting has a text description. Al can learn the association between languages and images, as well as multiple corresponding concepts related to the images. 

For instance, the concept of mountains could have a wide variety of image styles. So then how do people use AI to paint? They need to provide it with a text description, such as “a pine tree on a mountain.” AI will call on its learned experience and knowledge to generate a vague initial version randomly and then modify and perfect it continuously. There could be hundreds of rounds in the modification process, with the overall outline becoming clearer and clearer during the process, enriching the details. The work will be finally completed when it meets people’s esthetic requirements.

How is Baidu exploring art generation tech?

We [Baidu] adopt self-developed technology. There are two main points to our AI painting tech. Firstly, the image quality is high and looks delicate. We utilize a powerful diffusion model, which is a major technical innovation. Via multimodality of text and image, we can [give AI] a deep understanding, enabling it to create delicate artworks. 

Also, we have a better understanding of Chinese culture, and we will build a relevant dataset to feed it for generations in such a style. For the training datasets, we also developed algorithms to evaluate the aesthetics to ensure they meet the criteria. 

And considering users’ descriptions can be inaccurate, we enhanced the inputs system via a knowledge graph to provide related keywords for a better user experience.

So far, the feedback from users is quite positive; the platform has greatly improved their efficiency. For most casual users, they find the AI generator quite helpful. Looking ahead, we plan to explore a wider range of usage scenarios, for example using AI to assist children to practice painting. 

What is the position of human beings in AI art generation?

The human being is of great importance in AI-driven paintings. In my opinion, human is the mentor of AI. We need to develop the neural network of the AI painting model: there are different models with various effects [and we need to choose ideal ones from them].

The human also has to feed AI some material to learn and determine how the AI should be trained. For example, Baidu Wenxin Yige was fed with traditional Chinese elements and cultural data to have a better understanding of this genre. 

[The platform] can generate an image within minutes. On the first version of the piece drafted by Lu Xiaoman, the Baidu team consulted artist Le for advice. He then provided more training samples for a better outcome.

At the very beginning, AI needs people to teach it to generate the image: what content should appear in the picture and what styles should be presented.

Humans are also the ones to make a final decision despite the machine having an automatic algorithm to tell if the generated work is good enough because AI is not as accurate as human beings in this case.

Jidu Auto, the electric vehicle arm of Chinese search engine giant Baidu, is joining a long list of Chinese companies to take on Tesla by positioning the brand in the premium segment and highlighting its strength in autonomous driving tech.

In recent media appearances, Xia Yiping, chief executive of Jidu, stated that the new automaker can compete with Tesla by leveraging the data and algorithm prowess from its parent company.

A former tech lead of in-car connectivity at Fiat Chrysler, Xia noted that he believes the race among automakers to build intelligent vehicles has only just begun in China.

On Oct. 27, Jidu showcased a special version of its first consumer car Robo-01 that it made in partnership with Chinese automaker Geely. The company plans to launch the standard version next April, which Xia told TechNode could be “very competitive” on price (our translation). He also noted a short-term target of selling at least 10,000 vehicles monthly.

Below is the highlights from a group interview at the car launch event, which have been translated, condensed, and edited for clarity:

Is it too late for Jidu to enter the Chinese EV game as a new competitor?

The EV offerings from our competitors are far less diversified, especially regarding the intelligent and connected capabilities they can offer. The competition has just begun, which I believe will be more about the deployment of semiconductors, algorithms, and computing power rather than vehicle manufacturing, as time goes on, and that’s where our capabilities lie.

We are looking to be a serious player in the medium-to-high-end EV segment, especially in the price range of RMB 250,000 ($34,370) and above, and where in-car intelligent technology has been a major selling point. Our core users are young, educated, tech-savvy, and upper-middle class, and in that sense, there is a big competitive overlap between Jidu and Tesla.

If you compare Jidu’s Robo-01 with Tesla’s Model Y, I would say our vehicle provides a roomier and more luxurious interior, as well as a longer driving range. 

Several competitors have already begun releasing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for city environments. What is your advantage and how do you ensure the reliability of vehicle software?

(Note: Rival Xpeng Motors on Sept. 19 released its so-called City Navigation Guided Pilot, a feature similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving that allows vehicles to navigate on both highways and city streets. Huawei’s partner Arcfox closely followed with the release of its Navigation Cruise Assist (NCA) software a week later.)

Jidu’s advanced driver assistance capabilities, including those for highways and urban streets, will be fully ready once we begin vehicle delivery to customers later next year. All the variants of Robo-01 will be equipped with lidar sensors and applicable to all Jidu’s intelligent functionality.

We are developing the most advanced electrical and electronic architecture, where we must ensure the complexity of future vehicle systems and fulfill the higher demand for network bandwidth and functional safety. We run algorithms on Baidu’s supercomputers, and I think that’s one of our advantages.

Auto intelligence is not just about software engineering. You need to fully understand when it comes to where the semiconductor industry is headed and how sensors can better enable autonomous driving, among other fields. Not everyone can do that, but that’s in our DNA.

Jidu will begin delivery of Robo-01 later next year. Can you share insights on production plans, retail networks, and charging infrastructure?

Robo-01 is built based on Geely’s SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) platform. In early October, we aligned the production plan of Robo-01 for next year with our manufacturing partner and made reservations for many key components ahead of time.

(Note: In September 2020, Geely launched a modular, open-source vehicle platform for EVs called the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), which has been used to build its own EV sub-brands like Lynk & Co, Zeekr, and Polestar.)

We plan to sell our cars via a direct sales model in the early stages so that we can maintain control over our brand image. Jidu’s first flagship store is about to open in Shanghai and we plan to enter 46 domestic cities by 2023.

When it comes to charging networks, we are building a number of charging points along with our showrooms and service centers, but we will also collaborate with public EV charge point providers to expand our footprint.

On June 29, TechNode CEO Lu Gang interviewed Shen Chengang, CEO and co-founder of Meetsocial Group, a cross-border marketing firm, about his insights on marketing Chinese firms to overseas audiences. This interview is part of an ongoing series by TechNode China focusing on Chinese companies doing business outside their home country. 

Founded in 2013, Meetsocial Group has helped many notable Chinese companies with overseas digital marketing solutions. Its most notable clients include Chinese tech firms like Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, NetEase, Trip.com Group, Anker, Shein, and Xiaomi. The annual marketing budget under the firm’s management was estimated to exceed $4.5 billion in 2021, according to its official website. Since its inception, the company has provided digital marketing solutions, including software as a service (SaaS), for more than 8,000 companies.

Here are some highlights from the interview, which have been condensed and edited for clarity: 

If a Chinese company wants to go abroad, which market should they enter first, Northern America, Southeast Asia, or others?

Companies need to do in-depth research on their target users to increase the probability of successful marketing overseas.

Makeup products, for instance, will find it challenging to compete in European and American markets because customers have different skin tones than in Asian markets. Thus, domestic makeup brands should prioritize entering Southeast Asian markets due to the similarities with their customer base.

For other products like apps and games, you need to find a suitable market based on your products’ features and content. Or make a new product to cater to your target market. 

What has changed in marketing Chinese firms to global users over the years?

Compared to 10 years ago, our entire infrastructure for helping companies to go overseas has drastically improved, with better delivery, payment, and customer service systems, and those areas are still improving. This progress has made overseas markets more open to Chinese firms and pushed the construction of our infrastructure to the next step.

One key improvement is the development of China’s manufacturing industry, which has found ways to produce quality products at a competitive price. Chinese-made products have become known for their cost-effectiveness, which has helped to better incorporate Chinese companies into the global market. 

Can you share examples of how your firm has helped Chinese companies market overseas?

Two typical cases are our clients, Shein and Anker. Shein is a cross-border platform for fast fashion, while Anker focuses on accessory products for computers and consumer electronics.

Consumer electronics products generally have more value than fashion products. Thanks to the advantage that Chinese brands have when it comes to manufacturing and high standardization in the industry, they are more cost-effective, and such products have an easier time entering overseas markets.

There are fewer opportunities for companies that focus on low-margin products, like Shein. On the contrary, brands that focus more on a specific area, like Anker, are still promising in overseas markets. 

What does Meetsocial Group do differently to help clients find success in a new market?

First, we pay attention to our clients’ needs and invest in related fields. We mainly focus on the e-commerce, gaming, and app sectors. In these industries, we pay attention to marketing needs, the needs of our target consumer base, and other factors.

We have also set up many local offices overseas to help companies to optimize. For example, our teams work closely with local media, learning and meeting the needs of different advertisers overseas.

We have local offices in Singapore, Japan, India, and Dubai, where our local colleagues can offer advice on local marketing strategies to better connect with the market in that region.