When Chinese artificial intelligence developers Zhipu AI and MiniMax made their debuts on the Hong Kong stock exchange in January, investors initially saw one as a better bet than the other. Beijing-based Zhipu closed its first trading day on January 8 with a market capitalisation of HK$57.9 billion (US$7.4 billion). A day later, Shanghai-based MiniMax listed at HK$106.7 billion, almost twice as large. Five months on, however, Zhipu – traded as Knowledge Atlas Technology – has surged ahead. At...
AI is getting expensive – and companies are starting to rethink their embrace of the disruptive technology. Playing by a well-worn Silicon Valley playbook, artificial intelligence companies charged rock-bottom prices to hook customers after ChatGPT burst onto the scene. Kevin Simback of start-up incubator Delphi Labs calls it the era of “subsidised intelligence” – meaning investors were basically footing the bill so companies could offer AI on the cheap. “But the tides are beginning to turn,”...