According to information from "Intelligence Emergence," the large-scale model startup company Baichuan Intelligence has recently completed its Series A financing, with a total amount reaching 5 billion yuan, and its valuation has soared to 20 billion yuan. Reports indicate that in addition to previously announced investors such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi, this round of financing also attracted industrial investment funds with state-owned capital backgrounds from Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other regions.
Founded in April 2023 by Wang Xiaochuan, the former CEO of Sogou, Baichuan Intelligence is one of the first AI large-scale model companies in China. Since its establishment, the company has launched 12 large models, covering both open-source and closed-source areas, and released the AI assistant "Bai Xiao Ying" in May of this year.
Notably, Baichuan Intelligence has demonstrated outstanding performance in the field of medical AI. The company considers healthcare to be the "crown jewel of large models," and its Baichuan3 model has surpassed GPT-4 in certain medical evaluation tasks. Baichuan has also proposed a graded development route for AI in healthcare, L0-L5, believing that current technology has reached the L3 level.
This round of financing reflects changes in the financing landscape of the large model industry. In addition to traditional VCs and tech giants, state-backed funds are becoming an important source of capital. Industry insiders point out that the valuation threshold for the first-tier large model companies has risen to 20 billion yuan, and the financing competition is ongoing.
However, with the influx of funds, the pressing issue for large model companies is to achieve technological implementation and commercialization. Baichuan Intelligence adopts a dual-wheel drive strategy of "super model + super application," focusing on both the pursuit of AGI and specific scenario applications, especially the potential in the healthcare sector.
The successful financing of Baichuan Intelligence not only demonstrates the confidence of investors but also reflects the development trends and challenges of the AI large model industry. The industry looks forward to more breakthroughs by Baichuan Intelligence in areas such as AI healthcare.