Fintech giant Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, has unveiled what it called China’s first multimodal artificial intelligence assistant capable of producing code-driven outputs, including “flash apps” in as little as 30 seconds.
Advertisement
LingGuang, described as a next-generation multimodal AI assistant, was designed to help users create a variety of simple apps – including a calorie tracker, a Pac-Man-style game and a Chinese character memorisation tool – based on natural language prompts, the company said on Tuesday.
Additional uses included trip planning, personal finance management and shopping suggestions, according to Ant Group. The assistant, available for download in iOS and major Android app stores, was also capable of generating three-dimensional models, audio clips, charts, animations and interactive maps in a “clean, minimalist style”.
One of Ant Group’s suggested applications involved simplifying complex topics such as quantum entanglement or economic principles by translating them into intuitive animations and visuals.
The announcement followed Alibaba Cloud’s recent launch of its Qwen app – a “free-for-all” multipurpose app designed to capture consumer interest in the AI era by integrating Alibaba’s online services from shopping to mapping. Alibaba Cloud is the AI and cloud service arm of Post owner Alibaba.
Advertisement