As Apple embraces OpenAI's ChatGPT, the landscape of artificial intelligence is entering a pivotal stage. The partnership not only signifies a massive leap forward in Apple’s ML capabilities, it solidifies a powerful partnership between the AI behemoth and the world's largest consumer brand and tech company leading many to wonder what this could mean for OpenAI’s dominance going forward.
Meanwhile, global competitors are not just watching from the sidelines. Tech giants and startups have been accelerating their release of new competitive models such as the recent announcement of KLING by KWAI, who showcased their impressive generative video capabilities. The global AI landscape is becoming much more competitive, almost reminiscent of a geopolitical arms race or the Soviet era space race.
Mistral, in France, has made waves with a staggering $600M funding round, valuing the open-source AI firm at over $6 billion. Its language models are outperforming Meta's LLama, positioning it as Europe's AI hope. Similarly, in the fiercely competitive Chinese landscape, startups are now stepping into the public spotlight, showcasing AI models that rival those from American tech giants.
We see many of the same competitive patterns and rivalries in AI's meteoric ascent and once defined international economic competition. In China, models like KLING built by KWAI are but minor players when stacked against giants like Baidu and Alibaba. But by far, Bytedance has been the runaway winner, a textbook example of the power of network effects. Its ever-growing dataset from TikTok, and its sister app CapCut quickly attracting millions of US users as well, has positioned them to capitalize significantly in the coming years. The AI ecosystem at large is witnessing a surge in funding for startups, with three newcomers each securing over $1 billion. Zhipu AI's backing by the Saudi Aramco Prosperity Fund stands out. This fierce competition is driving down costs for LLM APIs and subscriptions, a rare trend for an emerging sector. While these projects lag below the bar set by OpenAI, their progress can’t be ignored.
It’s important to note that the AI battle is not only being fought in the private domain. Regulatory action (and lack thereof) has been a key factor in the race towards AGI. Actions like the US blocking of Nvidia top-tier chips from Chinese manufacturers, has left many Asian struggling to play catch up. Stripped of the most powerful hardware, Chinese companies seem compelled to craft more efficient AI models capable of competing on speed and efficiency rather than pure capability. This crucible of necessity might just forge advancements in software and research overlooked by American startups. Operating on slimmer margins, with seemingly less capable equipment, these giants are spurred to develop their own AI chip infrastructure - a catalyst for self-sufficiency.
Market forces now drive AI development, with corporations shaping technology to their strategic ends. The US has created certain barriers to safeguard its lead, but dismantling these walls seems to be a global pursuit. The real question is what happens once true AGI is achieved. Will we see a lull in development similar to the decline in NASA post the space race era or will this advancement fundamentally change the way people interact with the world?