Chinese unicorn Zhipu raises new funding from state-backed investor amid mainland AI boom
Summary
Beijing-based Zhipu AI, one of Chinas four artificial intelligence (AI) "tigers", has raised an undisclosed amount in a new funding round - led by a state-backed investor, which put the start-ups value at around 20 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion).Proceeds from Zhipu AIs latest financing round - estimated to be worth "billions of yuan", according to a report on Thursday by local media outlet 36Kr - will be used to "support technological innovation and ecosystem buildout" for its large language models (LLMs), lead investor Beijing Zhongguancun Science City Innovation Development, a state-backed investment vehicle, said in its WeChat post published on the same day.The tech unicorns GLM series of LLMs - the technology underpinning generative AI services like ChatGPT - ranks as one of the leading AI models used by enterprises on the mainland, according to research firm IDC.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? 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.Zhipu AI, formally known as Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.Zhipu AI chief executive Zhang Peng speaks at a corporate event in Beijing on June 5, 2024. Photo: Handout alt=Zhipu AI chief executive Zhang Peng speaks at a corporate event in Beijing on June 5, 2024. Photo: Handout>The companys new funding round shows how investors have maintained a healthy appetite for AI-related enterprises on the mainland, despite Washingtons moves to prevent Beijing from pursuing advances in the technology.Other major investors in Zhipu AI include Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings, Meituan, GL Ventures and Legend Capital. Ying accepts both text and image prompts to create six-second video clips in around 30 seconds.In the same month, another Chinese AI tiger - Baichuan - raised about 5 billion yuan in a new funding round that valued the firm at more than 20 billion yuan.The mainlands other AI tigers, which are also unicorns with more than US$1 billion in valuation, are Moonshot AI and MiniMax.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century.