Tencent sets up team to develop ChatGPT-like product

Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings has set up a development team to work on a ChatGPT-like chatbot, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. ChatGPT's uncanny ability to create cogent blocks of text instantly has sparked worldwide frenzied interest in the technology behind it called generative AI.

Although Microsoft-backed OpenAI does not allow users in China to create accounts to access the chatbot, the open AI models behind the programme are relatively accessible and are increasingly being incorporated into Chinese consumer technology applications.

A number of Tencent rivals including Alibaba Group and Baidu Inc have also announced they are working on their own offerings.


Tencent's product, to be called "HunyuanAide", will incorporate the company's AI training model named "Hunyuan", said the people who were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.

Asked for comment, Tencent reiterated a Feb.9 statement that it is conducting research on ChatGPT-tool technology.

The news comes after China's Ministry of Science and Technology said on Friday it saw the potential of ChatGPT-like tech and would be pushing for the integration of artificial intelligence into Chinese society and the economy.

According to the South China Morning Post, Tencent's Hunyuan AI model in November achieved a record-high score on the Chinese Language Understanding Evaluation (CLUE) test - a set of tasks used to assess a computer's ability to understand and respond to Chinese text.

That also marked the first time an AI model has scored better than humans on CLUE since the test was established three years ago.

Local media outlet 36kr first reported the establishment of the "HunyuanAide" team.