By FENG Yuchen
The 6th World Voice Expo and the iFlytek 1024 Global Developer Festival have kicked off in Hefei, Anhui Province. However, the stock market doesn't seem to be responding to the excitement. On the Tuesday, iFlytek's stock price closed at 46.7 yuan (US$6.38), 42 percent lower than its peak in June.
LIU Qingfeng, Chairman of iFlytek, introduced Spark Desk V3.0, the latest version of its self-built large language model (LLM). According to Liu, in comparison to GPT3.5, the model has made significant progress in seven major capabilities, including text generation and language understanding, with its Chinese language abilities surpassing those of ChatGPT.
Spark Desk V3.0 is now the most capable LLM among all mainstream AI models in China, Liu claims.
During the event, iFlytek announced apartnership with Huawei to build an integrated platform for AI development in response to export restrictions on AI chips imposed by the US. Currently, Huawei Ascend 910B offers similar performance to the NVIDIA A100, enabling iFlytek to advance its AI development despite sanctions.
However, iFlytek's financial performance raises concerns with 12.6 billion yuan in revenue in the first three quarters and attributable net income dropping by 76 percent to 100 million yuan. Increased spending on research and development, along with the sanctions imposed by the US, contributed to the decline. In fact, the company recorded a net loss in the first quarter this year and witnessed a 73.54 percent decline in net income in the semi-annual report.
Another piece of news that could negatively impact iFlytek's stock price is a scandal related to its AI learning pads.
A few days ago, iFlytek's learning pad was accused of distorting history. Although Chairman LIU stated that they deleted the content immediately and promised to tighten controls on materials in their learning pads, many parents still expressed their dissatisfaction and called for more effective solutions.
