IFlytek Unveils SparkDesk, a Chinese Rival to ChatGPT
iFlytek, the Chinese artificial-intelligence company, made a major announcement earlier this week, which led to a 10% increase in shares. The announcement was about the release of its new language model, SparkDesk, which the company claims rivals the popular ChatGPT technology produced by OpenAI.
IFlytek's stock has made a remarkable 95% gain this year, and the recent announcement triggered a buying frenzy for Chinese AI-related shares.
The New Language Model by IFlytek
At a demonstration event, iFlytek's chairman, Liu Qingfeng, stated that SparkDesk has surpassed ChatGPT in Chinese language and would soon be comparable in English by the end of October.
The model is far ahead of any existing comparable system in China and has a variety of plugins and tools. However, Liu acknowledged there are still some slight differences compared with ChatGPT, and the company is working on continuous improvement.
Reactions to SparkDesk
According to researchers at Huatai Securities, the language model “performs well” in key competencies such as long text generation and language understanding. The company also provided a clear timeline for upgrading capabilities, which was received positively. The company raised its target price on iFlytek to ¥83.93 ($12.15) from CNY77.00, while maintaining a buy rating.
A Growing Trend in Chinese AI-related Shares
iFlytek was among the first batch of Chinese companies to create its version of the language model technology that underpins ChatGPT. Baidu launched its Ernie Bot in March, Alibaba announced plans to roll out generative AI across its apps in April, and companies are looking to get in on the growing trend of AI in China.
Chinese AI companies are taking the lead in the global market, and with innovations like SparkDesk, iFlytek is likely to increase its market share and strengthen its position as an AI leader in China.
