Another Chinese tech giant unveils AI model to challenge DeepSeek, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI

Chinese tech giant Alibaba released a new AI model, Qwen 2.5, coinciding with the Lunar New Year. This launch, driven by competition with DeepSeek's successful AI models, claims better performance than other industry leaders. The intense competition among Chinese tech companies, such as ByteDance, follows DeepSeek's disruptive entry into the market, impacting global tech stocks.
Another Chinese tech giant unveils AI model to challenge DeepSeek, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI
Chinese tech giant Alibaba has released a new version of its artificial intelligence (AI) model, Qwen 2.5, on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The launch comes days after DeepSeek’s R1 model made waves in the international market for its competitive performance at a lower cost.
This unusual timing suggests a sense of urgency driven by the meteoric rise of DeepSeek's AI assistant, DeepSeek-V3, as per news agency Reuters.
Alibaba's cloud unit claims that Qwen 2.5-Max outperforms DeepSeek-V3 and other leading AI models like GPT-4o and Llama-3.1-405B in various benchmarks. The release of DeepSeek-V3 and its subsequent R1 model in January shocked Silicon Valley, prompting concerns about the rapid development of AI in China and the potential for Chinese startups to disrupt the global tech landscape.

DeepSeek’s success a push to Chinese AI models


DeepSeek’s success has sparked a scramble among Chinese tech companies to upgrade their own AI models. Just two days after the release of DeepSeek-R1, TikTok owner ByteDance unveiled an update to its flagship AI model, claiming it outperformed OpenAI's o1 in a benchmark test. This echoed DeepSeek's own claims regarding the R1 model.
The competition between Chinese AI companies intensified with the release of DeepSeek-V2, which triggered a price war in the industry. DeepSeek's open-source model and low pricing led to Alibaba and other tech giants like Baidu and Tencent slashing prices on their AI models.
Meanwhile, the stock price of major tech companies, including Nvidia, nosedived, wiping $1 trillion from US tech giants in a day. However, the shares remained steady two days after the DeepSeek AI app shocked the AI companies.
Despite the intense competition, DeepSeek's founder, Liang Wenfeng, remains focused on achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), a goal that he believes requires a different approach than that of large tech companies.
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