‘Too many’ AI models in China: Baidu CEO warns of wasted resources, lack of applications

Speaking at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Baidu CEO Robin Li said China’s AI models are not yet benefiting other industries

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Baidu CEO Robin Li speaks at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 4, 2024, warning that the country is wasting resources tweaking foundational models while failing to build more practical applications. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:00pm, 5 Jul 2024Updated: 3:56pm, 8 Jul 2024

Baidu co-founder and CEO Robin Li Yanhong said China has too many large language models (LLMs) and called for tech leaders to focus more on building real-world applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

“In 2023, intense competition among over 100 LLMs has emerged in China, resulting in a significant waste of resources, particularly computing power,” Li said during a panel discussion at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on Thursday.

Li called on developers to build more practical applications rather than continuously tweaking the technology that underpins generative AI (GenAI) products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

“I’ve noticed that many people still primarily focus on foundational models,” he said. “But I want to ask: how about real-world applications? Who has benefited from them?”

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How does China’s AI stack up against ChatGPT?

China’s GenAI market has become crowded with more than 200 LLMs appearing since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. Excessive competition from Big Tech companies has resulted in a price war for commercial AI services, while global players like OpenAI and Google are locked out of the market.