Alibaba Cloud Open Source AI Model Challenge Meta Llama 2

This follows Meta's release of its own open source LLM, Llama 2, in July.

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group, has introduced two open-source artificial intelligence (AI) language models called Gwen-7B and Gwen-7B-Chat. Each model has up to 7 billion parameters, becoming the first large-scale enterprise in China to open source LLM. In an official press release on Aug. 3, the company said the two open-source language models were built with up to 7 billion parameters each, making them serious contenders in the AI space.

This follows Meta's release of its own open source LLM, Llama 2, in July. Alibaba's Gwen models have 7 billion parameters each, while Meta's Llama 2 (the commercial version of their open source model Llama) has 70 billion parameters, making it one of the largest open source LLMs in the world. Last week, Alibaba Cloud partnered with Meta to make Llama available to Chinese companies, enabling those companies to create custom AI applications.

Aliyun provides new artificial intelligence models for free

The Alibaba Cloud division had previously launched an LLM called "Unified Qianwen" in April, offering multiple versions with different numbers of parameters. The newly open-sourced Gwen-7B and Gwen-7B-Chat are smaller versions of Unified Qian Wen, designed to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses looking to harness the power of artificial intelligence.

The company's goal is to give users, including academic researchers and commercial organizations around the world, free access to the code, model weights, and documentation for both models. However, entities with more than 100 million monthly active users need a license from Alibaba to use these models. Likewise, Meta's Llama 2 requires a license from the company with more than 700 million users.

The open sourcing of these large language models is part of an effort to help democratize AI technology. By making these models freely available, more businesses and developers will be able to use them to develop new AI applications.

LLM AI models can process large amounts of data and generate content in various formats, including text, images, audio, and video. These tools are the backbone of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, driving innovation and enhancing user experience across multiple domains.

Chinese Authorities Encourage Artificial Intelligence to Develop Domestically

While Alibaba Cloud has yet to reveal a high-parameter version of Tongyi Qianwen, the move marks a major step forward for China to catch up with the United States in artificial intelligence. The Chinese government actively encourages local companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei to develop competitive and "controllable" artificial intelligence models to challenge the dominance of American artificial intelligence technology.

The open source of Alibaba Cloud LLM is expected to enhance the technical capabilities and industry applications of my country's LLM. In addition, these tools will simplify the model training and deployment process of enterprises, lower the threshold of artificial intelligence application, and create industry-specific LLMs with higher efficiency.

Meanwhile, in addition to Alibaba and Meta, other tech giants such as Google and Microsoft are also working on large-scale language models for various applications, including text generation, language translation, and question-answering systems.

The global AI landscape is experiencing intense competition and rapid innovation, driving the growth and adoption of AI technologies across various industries, including cryptocurrencies.