Baichuan AI (Baichuan; Chinese: 百川智能; pinyin: Bǎichuān Zhìnéng) is an artificial intelligence (AI) company based in Beijing, China. As of 2024, it has been dubbed one of China's "AI Tiger" companies by investors.

Beijing Baichuan Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.
Native name
北京百川智能科技有限公司
Company typePrivate
IndustryInformation technology
FoundedApril 10, 2023; 18 months ago (2023-04-10)
Founder
HeadquartersBeijing, China
Number of employees
170 (2023)
Websitewww.baichuan-ai.com

Background

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Baichuan was founded in April 2023 by Wang Xiaochuan who had founded Sogou and was previously its CEO. Wang named the company after the phrase "A Hundred Rivers" and had secured $50 million in seed capital. He also reached out to former subordinates at Sogou to join the new company.[1][2]

In October 2023, a $300 million fundraiser was held for Baichuan. Investors included Tencent, Alibaba Group, Shunwei Capital and Xiaomi.[2][3]

In July 2024, Alibaba Group participated in a $691 million fundraiser for Baichuan valuing it at $2.8 billion.[4]

Products

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Baichuan

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In June 2023 Baichuan launched Bachuan1, an open-source large language model which was used by researchers at universities.[1]

In November 2023, Baichuan2 was released. Its context window could handle around 350,000 Chinese characters.[5]

In January 2024 and May 2024, Baichuan3 and Baichuan4 were released respectively.[6][7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Zhang, Jane (27 June 2023). "Billionaires and Bureaucrats Mobilize China for AI Race With US". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b Young, Doug (24 October 2023). "Baichuan seeks a place at China's crowded chatbot table". Bamboo Works. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  3. ^ Zhang, Jane (17 October 2023). "Alibaba, Tencent Join Funding for Chinese AI High-flyer Baichuan". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Alibaba-Backed AI Startup Valued at $2.8 Billion After New Round". Bloomberg.com. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  5. ^ Jiang, Ben (31 October 2023). "Chinese AI start-up claims to beat US rivals in processing long text". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  6. ^ Pandaily (29 January 2024). "Baichuan AI Releases Large-scale Model Baichuan 3 with Parameters Exceeding One Trillion". Pandaily. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  7. ^ Jiang, Ben (22 May 2024). "Chinese start-up Baichuan debuts AI assistant powered by upgraded LLM". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
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