Signal Xinhua: APEC Meetings in Chengdu Promoted AI Development and Cooperation

Summary

A Xinhua Economic Watch report notes that before an AI chatbot can answer a learner in Bangkok, the technology behind it may already have crossed several borders across Asia. The chatbot runs on AI Class ASEAN, a digital learning platform operated by the Jakarta-based ASEAN Foundation with support from Google.org. The platform is powered by SEA-LION, a family of open-source large language models developed by AI Singapore to better understand the region's languages, cultures, and contexts. The SEA-LION family includes a flagship model built on Alibaba's open-source Qwen model. The report presents this as an early preview of how AI can take shape across the Asia-Pacific through open-source development, regional adaptation, and cross-border use.