A person who knows about the topic but didn’t want to be named said that Baidu, China’s biggest search engine company, plans to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot service in March that will be similar to OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT.
The tool, whose name has yet to be determined, will first be included in Baidu’s primary search offerings. Users will also be able to access conversational search results, similar to OpenAI’s platform.
The announcement of Baidu’s plans pushed shares up 5.8% in a single day, the greatest intraday rise in over four weeks.
Baidu recently put billions of dollars into research on artificial intelligence (AI) as part of its plan to move away from online marketing and toward deeper technologies. According to Bloomberg, the company’s Ernie system, a large-scale machine-learning model built on data collected over several years, would serve as the foundation for the next ChatGPT-like application.
A spokesman for Baidu declined to comment on the situation.
Since its public debut in November, ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI tool, has received a lot of attention. Within a few days, more than a million people were using the program. This led to a discussion about the role of AI in schools, businesses, and homes.
Companies like Microsoft and Buzzfeed have also invested in creating real-world applications, while others have raised cash by capitalizing on the excitement.
Along with other Chinese tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance, Baidu has a lot of power over the Chinese internet. Baidu has been trying to grow again in the mobile age after falling behind competitors in areas like mobile advertising, video, and social networking. In addition to AI research, the business is researching autonomous driving technologies.
Chinese internet users are interested in ChatGPT, and many of them have shared screenshots of their conversations with the AI bot on Chinese social media. Chinese businesses are also looking into generative AI, and firms like Sequoia and Sinovation Ventures have given them money to do so.
