Chinese artificial intelligence stocks are the latest rage in mainland markets as the global frenzy around the Microsoft-backed ChatGPT chatbot spurs speculative bets on the revolutionary computing technology
Just two months after its launch, ChatGPT – which can generate articles, essays, jokes and even poetry in response to prompts – has been rated the fastest-growing consumer app in history
That has pushed Google owner Alphabet Inc to plan its own chatbot service and using more artificial intelligence for its search engine
While ChatGPT is not accessible in China, mainland investors are still pumping up the shares of AI technology companies such as Hanwang Technology Co, TRS Information Technology Co and Cloudwalk Technology Co
The CSI AI Industry Index which includes larger capitalised companies such as iFlytek Co, is up about 17% this year, outperforming the benchmark CSI300 Index’s 6% rise
To be sure, there is no indication that these AI companies are close to pushing out a ChatGPT-like product
The closest seems to be search engine giant Baidu Inc with plans to complete testing of its “Ernie bot” in March
Its shares surged more than 15% on Tuesday after making the announcement
“The industry as a whole tends to first speculate on expectations before only later trading on actual results,” said Zhang Kexing, General Manager of Beijing Gelei Asset Management
Shares of Hanwang Technology, which makes products that enable intelligent interactions, jumped by their daily limit of 10% on Tuesday, the seventh consecutive session it has reached that limit since markets reopened from the Lunar New Year holiday, boosting prices by more than 60% so far in February
The company expects to report an annual loss for 2022 but believes it has an edge over an interface like ChatGPT because its model can produce more precise results for clients
Cloudwalk shares retreated 5
5% on Tuesday but have nearly doubled in the seven trading days since the Lunar New Year holidays
On Tuesday, the company cautioned investors, saying its losses deepened in 2022, it has not cooperated with OpenAI and has generated no revenues from ChatGPT-related services and products
Other companies that have disclosed their progress in AI technology include TRS Information Technology and Beijing Haitian Ruisheng Science Technology Ltd
Their share prices have soared too
The price surge has stretched valuations
TRS for example, trades at nearly 60 times earnings, while Haitian Ruisheng’s price-to-earnings ratio is more than 240
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2023
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| Date: | 09-Feb-2023 | Reference: | View Original Link |
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