Alibaba and Tencent Join $340 Million Funding for AI Startup Zhipu

(Bloomberg) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. were among influential Chinese investors that invested 2.5 billion yuan ($342 million) in AI startup Zhipu this year, part of a wave of capital flowing into a red-hot arena.

The country’s two largest tech firms joined rivals and others ranging from Ant Group Co. to Xiaomi Corp. in backing Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co., one of several private firms trying to build domestic rivals to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.