Close Menu
    Facebook LinkedIn YouTube Instagram X (Twitter)
    Blue Tech Wave Media
    Facebook LinkedIn YouTube Instagram X (Twitter)
    • Home
    • Leadership Alliance
    • Exclusives
    • Internet Governance
      • Regulation
      • Governance Bodies
      • Emerging Tech
    • IT Infrastructure
      • Networking
      • Cloud
      • Data Centres
    • Company Stories
      • Profiles
      • Startups
      • Tech Titans
      • Partner Content
    • Others
      • Fintech
        • Blockchain
        • Payments
        • Regulation
      • Tech Trends
        • AI
        • AR/VR
        • IoT
      • Video / Podcast
    Blue Tech Wave Media
    Home » China AI startup 01.AI valued at $1B in eight months
    Lee-Kai-fu-chairman-and-CEO-of-Sinovation-Ventures
    Lee Kai-fu's Yi LLM has impressed the AI industry - to the tune of $1B.
    AI

    China AI startup 01.AI valued at $1B in eight months

    By Vicky HuangNovember 8, 2023Updated:December 6, 2023No Comments3 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
    • 01.AI aims to develop localised large language models for the mainland China market.
    • Achieved a $1 billion valuation after latest funding round from Alibaba Group.
    • LLM Yi outperforms established models like Llama 2, according to experts.

    01.AI, the AI startup set up by Chinese computer scientist and CEO of Sinovation Ventures Kai-fu Lee, has reached a valuation of over $1 billion after a new funding round led by Alibaba Group’s cloud unit, just eight months after inception.

    01.AI to develop localised large language models for mainland China market

    OpenAI and Google are not available in mainland China. “Therefore, I believe many LLM professionals want to do their part to create a solution for those who truly need this market,” explained Kai-fu Lee.

    The growth of AI reflects the rapid development of the field of generative artificial intelligence. Seven months after its establishment, this startup company released its first bilingual (Chinese-English) open-source model, called Yi.

    Also Read: China’s Baichuan Intelligence Unveils Open Source Language Model to Compete with OpenAI

    Open-source Yi in two versions, outperforms established AI models

    Yi includes two versions: Yi-34B and Yi-6B. Yi-6B is best suited for personal use and research, while Yi-34B has greater power for meeting the needs of the open source community. Both are currently open for free commercial applications.

    According to Hugging Face, a leaderboard that ranks and compares different AI models, Yi-34B is a bilingual basic model trained with 34 billion parameters, much smaller than other open models such as Falcon-180B and Meta LlaMa2-70B. However, Yi-34B has a data parameter volume of 34 billion, can support 200K ultra long context windows, and can handle approximately 400,000 Chinese characters and ultra long text input, making it the longest version in the world at present. “The decision to launch an open LLM as the first product is a ‘feedback’ to society. We have provided a trustworthy choice,” added Kai-fu Lee.

    Also Read: Meta Launches Game-Changing Open-Source AI Model, LLaMA 2, Free for All Users

    Establishing an LLM is a costly undertaking. In order to maintain cash intensive operations, 0.AI was developed using a commercial fee plan. Although the company will continue to open source some of its models, its goal is to establish a state-of-the-art proprietary model as the foundation for various commercial products.

    “AI 2.0 is the largest technological revolution in history,” said Kai-Fu Lee, pointing to the scale of the project he has taken on.

    AI ChatGPT News Technology Trends
    Vicky Huang

    Vicky Huang was a reporter at btw media. She majored in international journalism and communication at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

    Related Posts

    Indosat deploys Nokia AI to cut network emissions

    July 8, 2025

    Huawei’s AI lab denies copying Alibaba’s Qwen model

    July 8, 2025

    HPE completes Juniper deal under DOJ terms

    July 7, 2025
    Add A Comment
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    CATEGORIES
    Archives
    • July 2025
    • June 2025
    • May 2025
    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • February 2025
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • October 2024
    • September 2024
    • August 2024
    • July 2024
    • June 2024
    • May 2024
    • April 2024
    • March 2024
    • February 2024
    • January 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • October 2023
    • September 2023
    • August 2023
    • July 2023

    Blue Tech Wave (BTW.Media) is a future-facing tech media brand delivering sharp insights, trendspotting, and bold storytelling across digital, social, and video. We translate complexity into clarity—so you’re always ahead of the curve.

    BTW
    • About BTW
    • Contact Us
    • Join Our Team
    TERMS
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Use
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.