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Zhipu AI of China Develops Sora-Inspired Technology to Advance Artificial General Intelligence

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An early proponent of Chinese large language models (LLM), Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co. (Zhipu AI) stated that it is creating Sora-like technology as a means of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), highlighting a national aspiration to overtake US advancements.

Later this year, the public will be able to access OpenAI’s text-to-video generator, Sora. This has caused numerous Chinese companies, where Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT is not readily available, to step up their efforts to keep up with recent advancements in the US in this area.

According to Zhang Peng, the CEO of Beijing-based Zhipu AI, “we’re not surprised about the advent of Sora, and we’re also working on [similar technology],” as reported this week by the local media outlet TMTPost.

Noting that Sora’s multi-modal capabilities are “very state-of-the-art,” Zhang praised the project but also pointed out that Sora and related Chinese efforts are currently behind in terms of technology.

Zhang was reported in the report as saying, “Sora has experienced progressive enhancement, there’s still a gap between [it] and us and we need to keep working hard.”

Being the company behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other similar services, Zhipu was one of the first in China to investigate the development of LLMs. One year before OpenAI released its GPT-3 LLM series, it was founded in June 2019 by a group of Tsinghua University computer science research fellows.

Based on research conducted by Tsinghua University’s Knowledge Engineering Group (KEG), the company was founded. Zhang was a key member of the KEG team and holds a doctorate from the university’s computer science department.

Zhipu declared in October that it had raised $342 million, or 2.5 billion yuan, in total. Numerous Big Tech companies and venture capital (VC) firms in China have supported it, including Alibaba Group Holding, the company that owns the Post, Tencent Holdings, Meituan, and Xiaomi.

The venture capital arm of Hillhouse Capital, GL Ventures, and HongShan, formerly Sequoia China, are among the backers.

ChatGLM, Zhipu’s response to ChatGPT, was unveiled in March of last year. It was one of the first sets of generative AI services authorized for general release by the Chinese government.

Beijing has placed restrictions on the use of foreign chatbots and required all local services to obtain a permit before going live in order to keep generative AI services under control.

Several of the top AI start-ups in the world, such as OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Mistral AI in Europe, have not yet released their products on the mainland.

As per the TMTPost report, Zhang remains optimistic about collaborating with foreign companies on AI technologies in the future and is considering international markets.

“Globalization is a crucial business strategy. Going outside [of China] would be a very significant milestone for as a Chinese company, Zhang added.

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Threads uses a more sophisticated search to compete with Bluesky

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Instagram Threads, a rival to Meta’s X, will have an enhanced search experience, the firm said Monday. The app, which is based on Instagram’s social graph and provides a Meta-run substitute for Elon Musk’s X, is introducing a new feature that lets users search for certain posts by date ranges and user profiles.

Compared to X’s advanced search, which now allows users to refine queries by language, keywords, exact phrases, excluded terms, hashtags, and more, this is less thorough. However, it does make it simpler for users of Threads to find particular messages. Additionally, it will make Threads’ search more comparable to Bluesky’s, which also lets users use sophisticated queries to restrict searches by user profiles, date ranges, and other criteria. However, not all of the filtering options are yet visible in the Bluesky app’s user interface.

In order to counter the danger posed by social networking startup Bluesky, which has quickly gained traction as another X competitor, Meta has started launching new features in quick succession in recent days. Bluesky had more than 9 million users in September, but in the weeks after the U.S. elections, users left X due to Elon Musk’s political views and other policy changes, including plans to alter the way blocks operate and let AI companies train on X user data. According to Bluesky, there are currently around 24 million users.

Meta’s Threads introduced new features to counter Bluesky’s potential, such as an improved algorithm, a design modification that makes switching between feeds easier, and the option for users to select their own default feed. Additionally, it was observed creating Starter Packs, its own version of Bluesky’s user-curated recommendation lists.

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Apple’s own 5G modem-equipped iPhone SE 4 is “confirmed” to launch in March

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Tom O’Malley, an analyst at Barclays, recently visited Asia with his colleagues to speak with suppliers and makers of electronics. The analysts said they had “confirmed” that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is scheduled to launch near the end of the first quarter next year in a research note they released this week that outlines the main conclusions from the trip. That timeline implies that the next iPhone SE will be unveiled in March, similar to when the present model was unveiled in 2022, in keeping with earlier rumors.

The rumored features of the fourth-generation iPhone SE include a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, a newer A-series chip, a USB-C port, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, 8GB of RAM to enable Apple Intelligence support, and the previously mentioned Apple-designed 5G modem. The SE is anticipated to have a similar design to the base iPhone 14.

Since 2018, Apple is said to have been developing its own 5G modem for iPhones, a move that will let it lessen and eventually do away with its reliance on Qualcomm. With Qualcomm’s 5G modem supply arrangement for iPhone launches extended through 2026 earlier this year, Apple still has plenty of time to finish switching to its own modem. In addition to the fourth-generation iPhone SE, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier stated that the so-called “iPhone 17 Air” would come with a 5G modem that was created by Apple.

Whether Apple’s initial 5G modem would offer any advantages to consumers over Qualcomm’s modems, such quicker speeds, is uncertain.

Qualcomm was sued by Apple in 2017 for anticompetitive behavior and $1 billion in unpaid royalties. In 2019, Apple purchased the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business after the two firms reached a settlement in the dispute. Apple was able to support its development by acquiring a portfolio of patents relating to cellular technology. It appears that we will eventually be able to enjoy the results of our effort in four more months.

On March 8, 2022, Apple made the announcement of the third-generation iPhone SE online. With antiquated features like a Touch ID button, a Lightning port, and large bezels surrounding the screen, the handset resembles the iPhone 8. The iPhone SE presently retails for $429 in the United States, but the new model may see a price increase of at least a little.

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Google is said to be discontinuing the Pixel Tablet 2 and may be leaving the market once more

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Google terminated the development of the Pixel Tablet 3 yesterday, according to Android Headlines, even before a second-generation model was announced. The second-generation Pixel Tablet has actually been canceled, according to the report. This means that the gadget that was released last year will likely be a one-off, and Google is abandoning the tablet market for the second time in just over five years.

If accurate, the report indicates that Google has determined that it is not worth investing more money in a follow-up because of the dismal sales of the Pixel Tablet. Rumors of a keyboard accessory and more functionality for the now-defunct project surfaced as recently as last week.

It’s important to keep in mind that Google’s Nest subsidiary may abandon its plans for large-screen products in favor of developing technologies like the Nest Hub and Hub Max rather than standalone tablets.

Google has always had difficulty making a significant impact in the tablet market and creating a competitor that can match Apple’s iPad in terms of sales and general performance, not helped in the least by its inconsistent approach. Even though the hardware was good, it never really fought back after getting off to a promising start with the Nexus 7 eons ago. Another problem that has hampered Google’s efforts is that Android significantly trails iPadOS in terms of the quantity of third-party apps that are tablet-optimized.

After the Pixel Slate received tremendously unfavorable reviews, the firm first declared that it was finished producing tablets in 2019. Two tablets that were still in development at the time were discarded.

By 2022, however, Google had altered its mind and declared that a tablet was being developed by its Pixel hardware team. The $499 Pixel Tablet was the final version of the gadget, which came with a speaker dock that the tablet could magnetically connect to. (Google would subsequently charge $399 for the tablet alone.)

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