Open-source AI to transform China's innovation landscape: expert

China’s AI ecosystem is being revolutionized by open-source technology, which is not only driving innovation but also fostering collaboration and showcasing the transformative power of shared knowledge, said an expert.

Gao Wen, director of Pengcheng Laboratory (PCL), a leading research institution in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, highlighted how open-source culture promotes collaboration between research institutions and major tech firms, benefiting both developers and users alike.

"After I make the platform open-source, others, who use it, have to share their resources. Once they do, it will make my original system even better. Then, on top of all the open-source stuff, we will keep iterating. Many hands make light work. Everyone involved is adding fuel and stoking the fire," said Gao.

He noted that the firm is leveraging the "Pengcheng Cloud Brain" intelligent computing platform to train the PCL Mind Series of Large Models using an open-source approach, aimed at establishing it as a foundational application for China's computing power network.

The Pengcheng Cloud Brain II computing platform that has cultivated Pengcheng Mind also embraces an open concept. Specifically, 50 percent of its computing power is dedicated to self-developed projects within the Pengcheng Laboratory. Meanwhile, 40 percent is made available to domestic partners, research institutions, and universities, while the remaining 10 percent is allocated to the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology for use by external developers, Gao explained.

He emphasized the vital role of adopting an open-source approach in advancing software development.

"I advocated for open-source software about 20 years ago. At that time, within the national '863' program (National High-tech R and D Program), I was a firm proponent of opening source code. In my understanding, opening source might be more in line with the direction of human social development in terms of software ecosystem iteration, application promotion, and so on. This is similar to knowledge. In the past, many things were passed down from generation to generation among artisans and craftsmen. If any generation failed to pass it on properly, it would be lost. But now, the knowledge we learn is accessible to everyone, not just a few people. This is because knowledge is open-source. In fact, software is the same. If software becomes like knowledge, it should be open-source. Only by being open-source can it be iterated. Of course, it doesn't mean that once you open source it, you have no business opportunities and will fail. That's not the case. Teaching is also a means of making a living. Knowledge itself is open source, but teachers can still survive. It's the same with software. If software wants to develop rapidly in the future, it must be open-source," he explained.

While the "Pengcheng Cloud Brain II" is operating smoothly, Gao has already begun to focus on new challenges. Now, he and his team are in collaboration with relevant enterprises to develop the next-generation super-intelligent computer "Pengcheng Cloud Brain III," which has an intelligent computing power target of 16,000 petaflops per second, 16 times more powerful than "Pengcheng Cloud Brain II".

"It can be used for the training and application of large multimodal models. Currently, the intelligence of large language models is only language intelligence, while other forms of intelligence are relatively weak. In life, there are many things that people cannot express through language. That's why for many things we learn, we have to see them in person, experience them, and explore them. We usually say that things perceived through hearing, vision, or physically are difficult to describe clearly through language. Therefore, besides language, a multimodal model is one that combines these other elements with language for training. In this way, the overall intelligence level will gradually approach that of humans. We also hope that through the construction of this machine, it can be helpful to the domestic ecosystem," he noted.

Open-source AI to transform China's innovation landscape: expert

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the United States and Russia to return to the negotiating table, as the expiration of New START, the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms reduction treaty, marks a grave moment for global peace and security, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Thursday.

New START, which limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads and strategic delivery systems of the U.S. and Russia, expired on Thursday.

"The expiration of the New START Treaty marks a grave moment for international peace and security. For the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of the Russian Federation and the United States of America, the two states that possess the overwhelming majority of the global stockpile of nuclear weapons," said Dujarric in his briefing.

In his remarks, Guterres said throughout the Cold War and its aftermath, nuclear arms control between these governments helped prevent catastrophe. It built stability and, when combined with other measures, prevented devastating miscalculations. Most importantly, it facilitated the reduction of thousands of nuclear weapons from national arsenals. From the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) to New START, strategic arms control drastically improved the security of all peoples, not least the populations of the U.S. and Russia.

This dissolution of decades of achievement could not come at a worse time. The risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades, the UN chief noted.

"Yet even in this moment of uncertainty, we must search for hope. This is an opportunity to reset and create an arms control regime fit for a rapidly evolving context. The Secretary-General welcomes that both the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation have made clear that they appreciate the destabilizing impact of a nuclear arms race and the need to prevent the return to a world of unchecked nuclear proliferation. The world now looks to the Russian Federation and the United States to translate these words into action. The Secretary-General urges both states to return to the negotiating table without delay and to agree upon a successor framework that restores verifiable limits, reduces risks, and strengthens our common security," said Dujarric.

New START, which entered into force in 2011, was the last arms control pact between Russia and the U.S. after Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019.

UN chief urges US, Russia back to talks as key arms treaty expires