Several Chinese AI startups are challenging the dominance of global tech giants in the sector, such as Alibaba and Bytedance.
Smaller innovators in China now need to find their own niche in order to avoid being left behind, as the country’s AI ambitions have never been higher.
Four Chinese AI companies are seen as ones to watch: Stepfun, ModelBest, Zhipu and Infinigence AI, all of which have attracted significant investor attention.
Stepfun, for example, released 11 foundational AI models last year, while ModelBest is focused on smaller AI models designed for real-time processing.
Zhipu AI has grown into a company with strong government and academic ties and is developing several foundational models.
Infinigence AI focuses on combining chips from numerous brands to execute AI tasks more effectively.