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- 🏄AI startup scene is cooling down in China
🏄AI startup scene is cooling down in China
Microsoft and Nvidia testifies, AI girlfriend startup is making $100k
Marc Csuzi
September 13, 2023
Hello Surfers🏄!
Here’s a riddle: Apple has been pouring millions of dollars into it but hasn't said a word about it. What is it?
Yep, AI. The company known for selling almost anything as innovation refrained from mentioning AI yesterday when unveiling its new iPhone 15 line. We'll have to wait a bit longer to see what they're cooking up in Cupertino.
ONE PIECE OF NEWS
🧊The chinese AI startup scene is cooling down
Just like the companies in Silicon Valley, Chinese startups rode the AI hype that began last November with the release of ChatGPT. However, their valuation quickly took a nosedive as the hype turned into manic competition, marked by a limited GPU supply and slowing consumer spending. With no groundbreaking application in sight, Chinese venture capitalists (VCs) are becoming more cautious with their investments.
While OpenAI and other startups managed to scrape huge amounts of data from platforms like Twitter and Reddit, their Chinese counterparts face challenges. In China, where the open web is limited and the majority of public discourse occurs in apps, startups find it hard to gather sufficient training material for their AI models.
As a result, many have shifted their focus to minor efficiency improvements and low-hanging fruit business opportunities, waiting for China’s tech behemoths, the custodians of vast Chinese user data, to unveil their base models and offer APIs.
China’s regulators seem to be fairly lax on AI as they don't want to widen the gap in the race between China and the US. However, the vague guidelines provided by officials leave many small businesses anxious and hoping for clearer regulations.
The broader economic landscape in China, characterized by falling consumer spending, real estate troubles, and rising youth unemployment, is putting a chill on investments in the AI scene. VCs are eyeing established companies that are integrating AI into their existing products and have their own data to continuously improve their models.
ONE IDEA
“Instead of being mission-driven, Chinese companies are first and foremost market-driven.
The core motivation for China’s market-driven entrepreneurs is not fame, glory, or changing the world. Those things are all nice side benefits, but the grand prize is getting rich, and it doesn’t matter how you get there.”
Kai-Fu Lee - author of Ai Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
⌚ If you have one more minute:
AI Art of the day 🎨
Star Wars if it would have been painted by Bosch. created by Midjourney user u/Normacdylan.
🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄🌊🏄
That’s it folks!
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