In this article, we’ll examine Baidu’s unveiling of Ernie Bot, a rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and the reasons behind its share price decline.
We’ll also discuss Ernie Bot’s applications and the increasing competition in the AI chatbot market.
Key Takeaways:
China’s search giant, Baidu, recently showcased its artificial intelligence chatbot, Ernie Bot. This development is seen as a direct challenge to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT.
Baidu CEO Robin Li admitted that Ernie Bot has room for improvement but proceeded with the presentation due to high demand.
The company’s shares dropped by 6.4% after a pre-recorded demonstration.
During the presentation, Ernie Bot answered questions related to the Chinese sci-fi novel “The Three-Body Problem” and generated an image based on given prompts.
The name Ernie is an acronym for “Enhanced Representation of Knowledge Integration.” Li stated that the first version of Ernie Bot was created in 2019.
Over 650 companies have signed up to use Ernie Bot in various applications such as searches, AI cloud, autonomous driving, and smart devices.
This development comes after OpenAI’s ChatGPT demonstrated its capabilities in answering questions and even composing essays.
Baidu is among multiple Chinese companies working on similar chatbots.
Famous for its search engine, Baidu has shifted its focus in recent years toward artificial intelligence.
This includes working on autonomous driving technology and other AI applications.
In its 2022 fiscal year, the company spent 23.3 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion) on research and development, which is equivalent to about a fifth of its revenue.
Ernie Bot is built on Baidu’s AI-driven deep learning model, Ernie – short for “Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration.”
The presentation displayed Ernie Bot’s abilities, such as performing mathematical calculations, speaking in Chinese dialects, and creating videos and images with text prompts.
Although Baidu’s presentation of Ernie Bot did not include a public launch, it offered a glimpse of China’s strongest rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The company announced that the chatbot would be available for trial to a select group of users with invitation codes, while businesses can apply to incorporate the bot into their products via Baidu’s cloud platform.
Despite the disappointing event for some investors, Baidu is still considered the best bet in China’s AI space.
Baidu has continuously invested in artificial intelligence and deep learning, planning to use Ernie Bot to revolutionize its search engine and increase efficiency in the cloud, smart cars, and household appliances.
