The finance behemoth has made its latest investment in a low-key Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up that specializes in search engines and writing help: Ant Group.
According to a report released by local media Latepost on Thursday, Shanghai Mita Network Technology raised over 100 million yuan (US$13.9 million) in a new funding round headed by Ant Group, an offshoot of South China Morning Post owner Alibaba Group Holding. That estimated the six-year-old AI startup’s worth to be about $150 million USD.
Corporate database platform Qichacha reports that US venture finance firm Amino Finance, Beijing-based Future Capital, and Chinese internet company Cheetah Mobile participated in Mita’s pre-A round fundraising in 2021 and angel investment in 2018.
Min Kerui, who holds a PhD in computer science and a master’s degree in mathematics from Oxford University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, launched Mita in 2018.
Based in Shanghai, Mita last year built its own large language model (LLM), or MetaLLM large language model, which powers generative AI services like ChatGPT. The firm has launched four core products, including writing aid and web search, according to their website.
According to website analysis company Similarweb, the AI-powered search engine Metaso, which was introduced earlier this year, has received 25.15 million visits year to date and 7.68 million visits in July.
Mita provides writing help, law case analysis, and law-focused AI translations, all while leveraging its in-house LLM in the legal sector. According to the company website, the writing program, named Xiezuocat, can produce a 1,000 word article in under a minute.
Since the US start-up that started the generative AI boom in late 2022, Ant Group, the company behind the payment app Alipay, has made significant investments in China’s AI industry, which has been rushing to provide a local alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The massive finance company has supported at least five additional Chinese AI startups in addition to Mita. It made investments in AI chip design company Moffett AI as well as two of the nation’s four new “AI Tigers,” Beijing-based Zhipu Ai and Shanghai-based MoonshotAI.
Additionally, Ant Group has supported AI businesses that specialize in text-to-video technologies. Alsphere and Shengshu Technology, both situated in Beijing, are thought to be possible rivals to OpenAI’s Sora.
Ant Group has been developing its own AI models and applications in addition to outside funding. The corporation focused on financial services, life services, and healthcare when it established Bailing, its own LLM, last year.
The group established NextEvo, a new AI entity, in January with the aim of leading and directing the financial giant’s primary AI initiatives. Since April, test versions of new AI applications, such an AI assistant for Alipay, have been available.