Before that, the technology world was anxiously waiting for ChatGPT's so-called "Chinese rival" tool - a software that has attracted the world's attention thanks to its ability to write essays, poems or code according to the instructions. requests in seconds since its launch last November.
ChatGPT's popularity has ushered in a tense race between tech giants and startups to develop a rival.
Among Chinese companies, Baidu rose to the top after it announced early last month that it was nearing completion of a chatbot using an AI-driven language model.
The name Ernie stands for "Advanced representation through knowledge integration".
According to Channel News Asia, the launch of the Ernie Bot at Baidu's headquarters in Beijing comes two days after Alphabet's Google unveiled a range of AI tools for its email software and backup cloud. Microsoft is expected to make a similar announcement later on March 16.
"We certainly can't say it's perfect. So why are we revealing it today? Because the market needs it," Baidu CEO Robin Li said during the Ernie Bot launch event.
However, the short videos released during the event about Ernie's strengths and the absence of a live performance on stage caused Baidu's Hong Kong-listed share market to drop by as much as 10% before it was released. regain momentum.
During the presentation, which was broadcast live on 9 platforms, including Twitter, Youtube and Weibo, Mr. Li showed only 5 video clips of Ernie Bot answering questions about popular Chinese science fiction novels. "Three-body problem", perform mathematical calculations, understand Chinese dialect and create videos from text.
After the launch, only certain users with an invite code will be able to try the Ernie Bot. Companies can apply to embed this software in their products through Baidu's cloud platform.
Mr. Li said that so far 650 companies have said they will join the Ernie ecosystem. Chinese state media and a Shaolin temple were among the first to apply to become Ernie Bot's partners.
For many years, Baidu said its research and development investment was focused mainly on artificial intelligence. In 2022, Baidu's research and development expenditure is 21.4 billion yuan ($3.1 billion).
Baidu plans to use Ernie Bot to revolutionize its search engine and use it to increase efficiency in the cloud, smart car and home appliances, and mainstream businesses. other.
Earlier this week, OpenAI said it was launching a powerful artificial intelligence model called GPT-4, which is superior to previous ChatGPT technology.
Mr. Li warned against looking at the technology race through the lens of geopolitics. "Ernie Bot is not a tool for confrontation between China and the US," the manager emphasized.
