Alibaba, Tencent Join Funding for Chinese AI High-Flyer

(Bloomberg) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. have joined a $300 million financing round for Baichuan, one of scores of Chinese AI startups hoping to capitalize on a surge of interest in developing ChatGPT-like services.

Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. also participated in the early funding round for Baichuan, which only was founded in April by the founder of search engine Sogou yet is already a unicorn valued at more than $1 billion. Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun’s Shunwei Capital also took part, according to a person familiar with the deal. The company now employs more than 170 people, including engineers drawn from the ranks of Google, Huawei Technologies Co. and Tencent, the company said in a statement.