Japanese e-commerce heavyweight Rakuten has announced its plans to introduce an in-house artificial intelligence (AI) language model in the coming two months.
What Happened: During a recent discussion with CNBC, Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, shed light on the company’s ongoing project to create its large language model (LLM). Unlike its peers in the tech industry, Rakuten has access to a notably diverse dataset due to its expansive business ventures, which include banking, telecommunications, and e-commerce.
Rakuten plans to utilize this “very unique” dataset to train its LLM, which Mikitani believes will enhance operational efficiency and marketing strategies by 20%. Moreover, Rakuten intends to offer its AI model to third-party businesses, like Amazon and Microsoft.
According to Mikitani, the company is on schedule to roll out its AI model within the next “couple of months.”
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While tech behemoths from the U.S. and China, such as OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, have successfully launched their LLMs, Japanese companies are trying to level the playing field. Earlier this year, telecom conglomerate NTT unveiled its own LLM, while SoftBank‘s generative AI computing platform started operations in November.
In Mikitani’s view, branching out into AI technology holds the promise of “huge profitable growth” for Rakuten.
Why It Matters: AI technology is increasingly becoming a core aspect in the business strategies of most tech companies, as observed during the latest earnings season which saw a record mention of AI in management speeches. Rakuten’s entry into the AI space comes as the European Union is moving closer to regulating AI technologies, showing the growing significance of AI in the global tech scene. The company’s unique dataset from its various businesses could provide it with a competitive edge in this rapidly growing field.
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