ChatGPT developer OpenAI will stop providing application interface (API) to Hong Kong, Mainland China and other "non -support countries and regions" from July 9th. It is designed to prevent companies in these countries from using ChatGPT to build their own houseArtificial intelligence (AI) products and related traffic.It is believed that some of the API "shells" relying on OpenAI (referring to a packaging and turning a use case into a small program to sell money) to launch a large model application may face elimination, and Hong Kong, Mainland China, and even global users in the AI experience in the AI experience in the AI experience.It will be affected.
First explain what API is and its role.API is an abbreviation of Application Programming Interface. It is a set of definitions and protocols that allow different software applications to communicate and exchange materials between each other.Through the API, the application can request services or data from another application without having to understand the details of its internal implementation.API can extract the results in a simple way and can be exchanged for data.For example, Google Map API can display maps on the website, or use APIs of social media X to get tweets.In addition, API can also expand the function, which is particularly important in the Genai era.For a simple example, weather applications can obtain weather data through APIs of the observatory of various regions, and display these data in the application without having to collect and process weather information by themselves.
The impact of terminating services
OPENAI prohibits Hong Kong and mainland China from using APIs, and those start -ups that rely on the OpenAI -reinforced API shell application are particularly serious.After all, it helps to develop rapidly, help enterprises quickly integrate third -party services, reduce development time and cost, and expand the market. It enters the global market through an international API, while increasing flexibility and promoting cooperation opportunities.
OpenAI service After the birth of the open air in November 2022, the start -ups that rely on the API shell application relying on the OPENAI shell application are sprung up and seized the landscape of computer tools in all walks of life. Unfortunately, except that the competition is too large, there are not many users who are willing to continue to continuePay purchases are free.Another financial path of start -ups: Injecting capital in the venture fund, it is difficult to find the gold owner due to factors such as economic downturn, the layoffs of the technology industry, and the light prospects;The merchant inevitably worsened the snow, and there was a wave of closure.Internal applications may be acquired by technology giants, and as a result, the author's increasingly larger and larger technology transformation written in Lianhe Zaobao (September 27, 2023).
Termination of the docking of the China -Hong Kong API. In addition to the obvious situations such as limited functional and insufficient data, it can also deduct its impact on users and internationals from short, medium and long -term corresponding methods.
1. Short -term corresponding method
Program developers or even users can use virtual network (VPN) or other network tools to guide traffic to the areas outside Hong Kong and mainland China.Unfortunately, this method is to treat the standard and not the root cause. After all, you must leave traces. How can we find out?
2. Corresponding method of the mid -term
You can connect the Openai service provided by Microsoft Azure.Microsoft has invested more than $ 13 billion in OPENAI so far, and has 49%of its profit organizations. Due to the extensive business of Microsoft, it is impossible to prohibit Hong Kong and the mainland from using its services.However, this method is difficult to last for small and medium -sized enterprises and startups with limited funds.Large multinational companies may have high bargaining power, and can use lower average costs to order and use these services from Microsoft.
Three, long -term corresponding methods
Both start -ups and large enterprises will consider separating the customer base of two camps: the Chinese markets in Hong Kong and the mainland docking Baidu Smart Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Smart Spectrum, etc.; Other European and American and English -speaking APIs.
In fact, after the OpenAI ban came out, Alibaba Cloud immediately announced that its AI development platform "Bai Lian" provides an alternative to the API users of OpenAI, and provides developers with more than 20 million free free free free freeTokens and exclusive migration services; at the same time, Baidu announced the launch of the "Hometown Cloud · Domestic Model Intelligence Plan". New users can migrate freely to "Wenxin's words".3.5 flagship model tokens.
Although China's AI model is slowly developing, the performance is terrible and laughed when Wen Xin's words were launched, but do not ignore the Greater China plus other Chinese areas (especially Malaysia, Singapore and many other netizens.Chinese -made applications), the scale of data is huge, and under the central government, the scope of personal information collection of more than one billion people is wider, deeper, and more concentrated than the English world. It is only time to catch up.What's more, only focusing on Chinese understanding may become the selling point of Chinese technology companies.
In reality, existing examples of technology companies divide customers in two camps: Douyin and Tiktok are targeted at mainland China and international markets.From the technology industry to the global situation, the situation of being separated into two pieces of China and the United States will only be more intense.
For national security, the United States has adopted political and economic decoupling in China. It is only one of the OpenAI forbidden API. This is enough to affect the development method of application manufacturers, crooked the promotion of Microsoft / Chinese technology companies, and even changing global Genai users worldwideExperience.In the future, I believe that there will be more means from political and economic to science and technology between China and the United States, so that the world will change the world.
The author is a digital technology practitioner, from Hong Kong
