Alibaba launched the open-source model platform ModelScope in 2022, and OSChina introduced MoArk in 2023 to provide model hosting, testing, and customization services for Chinese developers inside the firewall, according to Rest of World.
The report said Chinese regulators blocked Hugging Face in 2023 and did not disclose a specific reason. At the same time, the government has allowed AI labs to work around the restriction so Chinese models can still be shared with the global community, the report said.
Domestic platforms remain smaller than Hugging Face
ModelScope now hosts more than 170,000 models and said in March that it had 170,000 models and 250 million users. MoArk hosts about 20,000 commonly used models. That is still below Hugging Face, the New York-based platform that hosts more than 3 million open models and serves as a major venue for sharing open models and datasets.
OSChina says China needs its own ecosystem
OSChina CEO Xu Yong said not everyone can rely on VPN access all the time, and China needs to build an independent AI ecosystem that serves Chinese-speaking users. He also said China is developing that independent ecosystem faster than it built its internet ecosystem in the past.
Xu added that MoArk has deployed engineering teams to make models run on different types of Chinese chips, and said its mission is to ensure mainstream open models are compatible with Chinese chips.
Business model and offline support
Both platforms offer some services for free, while charging for extra computing power and advanced features. ModelScope also runs university hackathons and has opened co-working and event space for AI founders in Hangzhou.
Latest development around Hugging Face
The report said Nvidia announced a $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face in September. In regulatory filings, Nvidia said regulators may prohibit the sharing of Chinese models on the site.