(Yicai Global) April 11 -- The founder of Chinese search engine operator Sogou has established Baichuan Intelligence, an artificial intelligence company, with USD50 million of startup capital.

Baichuan Intelligence will aim to become the Chinese version of Open AI, the developer of ChatGPT, Wang Xiaochuan, who is also Sogou's former chief executive officer, said in an open letter yesterday.

Wang follows two other high-profile Chinese entrepreneurs who have set out a similar ambition recently: Meituan co-founder Wang Huiwen and Sinovation Ventures Chairman and Chief Executive Kai-Fu Lee.

Baichuan Intelligence was founded along with former Sogou team members and funded by Wang Xiaochuan and some of his close contacts in the industry, The Paper reported today. The Beijing-based firm will soon begin institutional financing and plans to release large language models by the end of this year, the report added.

The launch of Baichuan Intelligence's large training model is going well, according to The Paper, which cited Wang. The firm has recruited dozens of AI talents from well-known tech companies and will form a team of nearly 50 people by the end of this month, he added.

Wang established Sogou in 2004 and gradually developed it into China's second-largest search engine after Baidu, debuting a range of products including input methods and a browser. In October 2021, internet giant Tencent Holdings acquired Sogou, and Wang left the company.

Editor: Martin Kadiev