ChatGPT craze pumps up Chinese AI stocks that on revolutionary computing technology

The global frenzy surrounding the Microsoft-backed ChatGPT chatbot has fueled speculative bets on the revolutionary computing technology, and Chinese artificial intelligence stocks are the latest craze in mainland markets. Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are surging as a wave of the ChatGPT craze drives investor interest in rivals.

AI stocks rose more than 10% on Wednesday, continuing a rally that has seen others more than double their market value. ChatGPT, which can generate articles, essays, jokes, and even poetry in response to prompts, was named the fastest-growing consumer app in history just two months after its launch. This has prompted Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, to consider developing its chatbot service and incorporating more artificial intelligence into its search engine. While ChatGPT is not available in China, mainland investors are still buying stock in AI technology companies like Hanwang Technology Co, TRS Information Technology Co, and Cloudwalk Technology Co.

The buzzy ChatGPT — an AI writing tool developed by OpenAI — has caused much excitement since its beta version was released in November, touting its ability to do everything from writing children’s books to explaining Warren Buffet’s investment methods. There is no indication that these AI firms are on the verge of releasing a ChatGPT-like product. The closest appears to be Baidu Inc, which plans to complete testing of its “Ernie bot” in March. Following the announcement, its stock increased by more than 13% on Tuesday. “The industry as a whole tends to first speculate on expectations before only later trading on actual results,” said Zhang Kexing, general manager of Beijing Gelei Asset Management. Beijing Deep Glint Technology Co., a researcher of computer vision technology and big data analysis, surged more than 15% on the day and is up more than 60% since the beginning of 2023. Indeed, AI stocks in the United States have been on a tear since the launch of ChatGPT, with chipmakers Nvidia and Ambarella among those posting double-digit stock gains. According to Bloomberg, the recent surge in Chinese AI stocks appears to be in a similar vein and comes after a disappointing month for the shares due to concerns about weak balance sheets and slow progress in meeting ambitious targets.