Alibaba has announced intentions to launch Tongyi Qianwen, its artificial intelligence (AI)-based ChatGPT-like product.

Its cloud computing division stated that it will integrate the chatbot across all of Alibaba’s enterprises in the “near future” but did not specify a timeframe.

In recent months, technology companies from all over the globe have unveiled their so-called artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.

Alibaba announced earlier this year that it was developing a competitor to ChatGPT.

Alibaba has not translated Tongyi Qianwen, which means “seeking an answer by asking a thousand questions,” into English.

As Tongyi Qianwen was launched, Alibaba’s chairman and chief executive Daniel Zhang stated, “We are at a technological inflection point fueled by generative AI and cloud computing.”

Tongyi Qianwen, which can operate in both English and Chinese, will initially be added to DingTalk, Alibaba’s workplace messaging application.

The startup says it will take meeting notes, write emails, and write business proposals.

Alibaba stated that it will also be integrated into Tmall Genie, a voice assistant smart speaker comparable to Amazon’s Alexa.

Since Microsoft-backed OpenAI released ChatGPT in November, interest in generative AI has risen dramatically.

Generative AI is capable of learning from historical data to produce indistinguishable human-made content.

Using the internet as it existed in 2021 as its database, ChatGPT can respond to queries using natural, human-like language and imitate other writing styles.

Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in the technology that was added to Bing in February.

Microsoft will incorporate ChatGPT into Office apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Alphabet’s Google and the Chinese technology company Baidu have also announced and released their own AI models and chatbots.

China’s cyberspace regulator unveiled draught management measures for generative AI on Tuesday.

The Cyberspace Administration of China stated that companies would be liable for the veracity of data used to train the technology under the proposed regulations.

The public has until May 10 to submit comments on the proposals.

Last month, a group of IT leaders called for an end to training dangerous AI systems.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, and Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, were among those who signed an open letter warning of potential risks and declaring that the race to develop AI systems is out of control.

In the meantime, according to a recent report by investment bank Goldman Sachs, AI could replace 300 million full-time employees.

Italy’s data protection authorities blocked ChatGPT this month, citing privacy issues.