Alibaba-backed SenseTime, a Chinese company, has unveiled its AI-powered chatbot, SenseChat, which demonstrated its ability to write an email and a children's story. SenseChat is based on the company's big AI model SenseNova, and the company has developed the ability to deploy these big models across its product line. However, US sanctions on the company make it challenging to plan a product rollout.
In 2019, the US put SenseTime on a trade blacklist after accusing it of developing facial recognition programs that were used to surveil ethnic Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region. SenseTime has strongly opposed the ban and stated that it will work with relevant authorities to resolve the situation. SenseTime's new product enters the competitive AI technology arms race that began with the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT last year.