logo
Xiaohongshu joins wave of Chinese firms releasing open-source AI models

Xiaohongshu joins wave of Chinese firms releasing open-source AI models

[BEIJING] Xiaohongshu, also known as Rednote, one of the country's most popular social media platforms, has released an open-source large language model, joining a wave of Chinese tech firms making their artificial intelligence models freely available.
The approach contrasts with many US tech giants like OpenAI and Google, which have kept their most advanced models proprietary, though some American firms including Meta have also released open-source models.
Open sourcing allows Chinese companies to demonstrate their technological capabilities, build developer communities and spread influence globally at a time when the US has sought to stymie China's tech progress with export restrictions on advanced semiconductors.
Xiaohongshu's model, called dots.llm1, is available for download on developer platform Hugging Face. A company technical paper describing it was uploaded on Friday (Jun 6).
In coding tasks, the model performs comparably to Alibaba's Qwen 2.5 series, though it trails more advanced models such as DeepSeek-V3, the technical paper said.
Xiaohongshu is an Instagram-like platform where users share photos, videos, text posts and live streams. The platform gained international attention earlier this year when some US users flocked to the app amid concerns over a potential TikTok ban.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
The company has invested in large language model development since 2023, not long after OpenAI's release of ChatGPT in late 2022.
It has accelerated its AI efforts in recent months, launching Diandian, an AI-powered search application that helps users find content on Xiaohongshu's main platform.
Other companies that are pursuing an open-source approach include Alibaba which launched Qwen 3, an upgraded version of its model in April.
Earlier this year, startup DeepSeek released its low-cost R1 model as open-source software, shaking up the global AI industry due to its competitive performance despite being developed at a fraction of the cost of Western rivals. REUTERS

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Exclusive-OpenAI taps Google in unprecedented cloud deal despite AI rivalry, sources say
Exclusive-OpenAI taps Google in unprecedented cloud deal despite AI rivalry, sources say

CNA

time2 hours ago

  • CNA

Exclusive-OpenAI taps Google in unprecedented cloud deal despite AI rivalry, sources say

SAN FRANCISCO :OpenAI plans to add Alphabet's Google cloud service to meet its growing needs for computing capacity, three sources told Reuters, marking a surprising collaboration between two prominent competitors in the artificial intelligence sector. The deal, which has been under discussion for a few months, was finalized in May, one of the sources added. It underscores how massive computing demands to train and deploy AI models are reshaping the competitive dynamics in AI, and marks OpenAI's latest move to diversify its compute sources beyond its major supporter Microsoft, including its high-profile Stargate data center project. It is a win for Google's cloud unit, which will supply additional computing capacity to OpenAI's existing infrastructure for training and running its AI models, sources said, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters. The move also comes as OpenAI's ChatGPT poses the biggest threat to Google's dominant search business in years, with Google executives recently saying that the AI race may not be winner-take-all. OpenAI, Google and Microsoft declined to comment. Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, OpenAI has dealt with increasing demand for computing capacity - known in the industry as compute - for training large language models, as well as for running inference, which involves processing information so people can use these models. OpenAI said on Monday that its annualized revenue run rate surged to $10 billion as of June, positioning the company to hit its full-year target amid booming adoption of AI. Earlier this year, OpenAI partnered with SoftBank and Oracle on the $500 billion Stargate infrastructure program, and signed deals worth billions with CoreWeave for more compute. It is on track this year to finalize the design of its first in-house chip that could reduce its dependency on external hardware providers, Reuters reported in February. The partnership with Google is the latest of several maneuvers made by OpenAI to reduce its dependency on Microsoft, whose Azure cloud service had served as the ChatGPT maker's exclusive data center infrastructure provider until January. Google and OpenAI discussed an arrangement for months but were previously blocked from signing a deal due to OpenAI's lock-in with Microsoft, a source told Reuters. Microsoft and OpenAI are also in negotiations to revise the terms of their multibillion-dollar investment, including the future equity stake Microsoft will hold in OpenAI. For Google, the deal comes as the tech giant is expanding external availability of its in-house chip known as tensor processing units, or TPUs, which were historically reserved for internal use. That helped Google win customers including Big Tech player Apple as well as startups like Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence, two OpenAI competitors launched by former OpenAI leaders. Google's addition of OpenAI to its customer list shows how the tech giant has capitalized on its in-house AI technology from hardware to software to accelerate the growth of its cloud business. Google Cloud, whose $43 billion of sales comprised 12 per cent of Alphabet's 2024 revenue, has positioned itself as a neutral arbiter of computing resources in an effort to outflank Amazon and Microsoft as the cloud provider of choice for a rising legion of AI startups whose heavy infrastructure demands generate costly bills. Alphabet faces market pressure to demonstrate financial returns on its AI-related capital expenditures, which are expected to hit $75 billion this year, while maintaining its bottom line against the threat of competing AI offerings, as well as antitrust enforcement. Google's DeepMind AI unit also competes directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in a race to develop the best models and integrate those advances into consumer applications. Selling computing power reduces Google's own supply of chips while bolstering capacity-constrained rivals. The OpenAI deal will further complicate how Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai allocates the capacity between the competing interests of Google's enterprise and consumer business segments. Google already lacked sufficient capacity to meet its cloud customers' demands as of the last quarter, Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi told analysts in April. Although ChatGPT holds a large lead over Google's competing chatbot in terms of monthly users and analysts have predicted it could reduce Google's dominant search market share, Pichai has brushed aside concerns that OpenAI will usurp Google's business dominance.

Uber to launch driverless taxis in London in 2026
Uber to launch driverless taxis in London in 2026

Straits Times

time2 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Uber to launch driverless taxis in London in 2026

Companies including Uber will be allowed to trial commercial driverless services without a human presence for the first time in the UK. PHOTO: REUTERS LONDON - Ride-hailing firm Uber will launch self-driving taxis in London in 2026 when England trials new driverless services, the firm and the UK government said on June 10 . Under the Uber pilot scheme, services will initially have a human in the driver's seat who can take control of the vehicle in an emergency, but the trials will eventually transition to being fully driverless. The government announcement will see companies including Uber allowed to trial commercial driverless services without a human presence for the first time in the United Kingdom. They will include taxis and 'bus-like' services. Uber CEO Andrew Macdonald described London's roads as 'one of the world's busiest and most complex urban environments'. 'Our vision is to make autonomy a safe and reliable option for riders everywhere, and this trial in London brings that future closer to reality,' he said. Members of the public will be able to book the transport via an app from spring 2026, ahead of a potential wider rollout when new legislation – the Automated Vehicles Act – becomes law from the second half of 2027, the Department for Transport added. The technology could create 38,000 jobs, add £42 billion (S$73 billion) to the UK economy by 2025, and make roads safer, it said. 'The future of transport is arriving. Self-driving cars could bring jobs, investment, and the opportunity for the UK to be among the world-leaders in new technology,' Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said. 'We can't afford to take a back seat on AI ... That's why we're bringing timelines forward today,' added Technology Secretary Peter Kyle. The wider roll-out will also allow the sale and use of self-driving, private cars. Driverless vehicle trials have been underway in the UK since January 2015, with British companies Wayve and Oxa 'spearheading significant breakthroughs in the technology', the ministry said. 'These early pilots will help build public trust and unlock new jobs, services, and markets,' said Wayve CEO Alex Kendall. According to the government the forthcoming legislation will require self-driving vehicles to 'achieve a level of safety at least as high as competent and careful human drivers'. 'By having faster reaction times than humans, and by being trained on large numbers of driving scenarios, including learning from real-world incidents, self-driving vehicles can help reduce deaths and injuries,' it said. Driverless taxis with limited capacity are already on the roads in the United States and China, most notably in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where a fleet of over 500 can be hailed by app in designated areas. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Tencent Music to buy Chinese audio platform Ximalaya for US$2.4 billion
Tencent Music to buy Chinese audio platform Ximalaya for US$2.4 billion

Business Times

time3 hours ago

  • Business Times

Tencent Music to buy Chinese audio platform Ximalaya for US$2.4 billion

[BEIJING] Chinese music platform Tencent Music Entertainment Group said on Tuesday (Jun 10) it would buy long-form audio platform Ximalaya for about US$2.4 billion in cash and stock, expanding its library of content to attract more paying users. US-listed shares of Tencent rose 7 per cent in premarket trading. The company will offer US$1.26 billion in cash and Class A shares representing up to 5.20 per cent of its total outstanding stock. It will also issue shares to Ximalaya's founder investors not exceeding 0.37 per cent of its total share count. The stock component of the deal totals about US$1.15 billion based on Tencent Music's last closing price on April 24. Closely held Ximalaya counts Tencent, Baidu and Sony Group's music entertainment unit as backers. The company filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering in 2021, but pushed back the plan. The app-based online audio platform had 303 million monthly active users as of 2023, according to a separate listing application it filed last year. Tencent Music is one of the biggest online music entertainment platforms in China, with apps such as QQ Music, Kugou, Kuwo and WeSing, according to its website. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store