China to launch large-scale model systems amid ChatGPT boom

China launched FlagOpen, one of the first large-scale model open-source systems, on Tuesday amid a boom in popularity of ChatGPT, with an aim of driving the country's artificial intelligence development for more "phenomenal" applications.

Behind the program are China's efforts in deploying large-scale model programs to accelerate an innovative open-source ecosystem. FlagOpen has been a part of a broader project from the Ministry of Science and Technology since 2021 aiming to develop open-source platforms.

FlagOpen, developed by Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, includes large-scale model algorithms, data, tools and evaluation, and aims to build Linux in the field of large-scale models.

"The era of intelligence requires a real open source, instead of the use of open source like Android or an open source controlled by a certain enterprise. It should be an open source developed by everyone in the open source community," said Huang Tiejun, Head of BAAI.

Huang said that ChatGPT is just the tip of the iceberg for large-scale model technology and what is behind deserves more attention.

"From a long-term perspective, more efforts should be made to form a complete large-scale model technology system with strong resource capabilities, so that the country can give birth to phenomenal "applications like ChatGPT," he added.

According to BAAI, FlagOpen has already joined forces with more than 30 research institutes and universities. It has also formed alliances with the country's leading tech companies to improve the ecosystem.