Ant Group invests in writing assistant start-up Mita as Chinese tech firms keep betting on AI
Summary
Ant Group has led a new round of investment in a low-profile Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up with a focus on search engines and writing assistance, marking the fintech giants latest move in this field.Shanghai Mita Network Technology raised over 100 million yuan (US$13.9 million) in a new funding round led by Ant Group, an affiliate of South China Morning Post owner Alibaba Group Holding, according to a report published by local media Latepost on Thursday. Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.Mita was founded in 2018 by Min Kerui, who graduated from Oxford University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Masters degree in mathematics and a PhD in computer science.Chinas AI sector has scrambled to offer a local answer to OpenAIs ChatGPT since the US start-up triggered the generative AI boom in late 2022. Photo: Shutterstock Images>Based in Shanghai, Mita last year developed its own LLM - the technology underpinning generative AI services like ChatGPT - called MetaLLM large language model (LLM), and launched four main applications covering sectors including web search and writing assistance, according to the companys website.Launched earlier this year, its AI-powered search engine Metaso has accumulated 25.15 million visits year to date, and recorded 7.68 million visits in July, according to website analysis firm Similarweb.Leveraging its self-developed LLM in the legal industry, Mita also offers law-focused AI translations, law case analysis, and writing assistance. Called Xiezuocat, the writing programme can reportedly come up with a 1,000 word article within one minute, according to the companys website.Ant Group, which operates payment app Alipay, has invested heavily in Chinas AI sector, which has scrambled to offer a local answer to OpenAIs ChatGPT since the US start-up triggered the generative AI boom in late 2022.Apart from Mita, the fintech giant has backed at least five other AI companies in China. The company launched Bailing, its own LLM last year with a focus on financial services, life services and healthcare.In January, the group set up a new AI unit NextEvo with the goal of driving and coordinating the fintech powerhouses core AI efforts.