Alibaba, an online retailer, and Tencent, a multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate, led a $300m round in Baichuan, a Chinese AI startup, with participation from Xiaomi, a designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics. Baichuan is one of the more prominent startups developing generative AI in China, hoping to compete with the likes of Microsoft and OpenAI. The country’s tech firms are pouring billions into training and developing AI services, mirroring a wave of activity now convulsing Silicon Valley.