The arrival of ChatGPT has sparked fierce competition between some of the biggest tech companies in the world. Microsoft was quick to revamp Bing with a conversational chatbot with the Open AI technology and Google stepped on the accelerator to present its own proposal called Bard, although this has not yet been released generally.
In China they are clear that the technological future passes through artificial intelligence. And, despite the fact that US trade restrictions are complicating the Asian country’s advances in this field, some players seem determined to give their all so as not to be left out of this incessant race. Baidu, also known as “the Chinese Google”, is one of them.
Ernie Bot is just around the corner
According to The Wall Street JournalChina’s largest search engine is working around the clock to announce its response to ChatGPT as soon as next March 16. The expectation is very high. The presentation of Ernie Bot, which is what the bot will be called, is one of the most anticipated events of the year in the country’s tech industry.
Baidu’s expected move will bear similarities to Microsoft’s. The Asian giant will renew its search engine with the conversational bot. This will interact with users through natural language and, as the company explains (via CNBC), “will integrate massive data insights, giving it exceptional comprehension and generation capabilities.”
Baidu’s ambitions are huge. To catapult his latest technological bet, he has signed agreements with more than 400 companies so that they adopt Ernie Bot, a strategic decision that also has another purpose: to feed on the interaction of users to gain experience and improve its operation in different areas.
But, it should be noted, the enormous rush that drives the Beijing firm can also have negative consequences. The teams, according to WSJ, are working against the clock to get the artificial intelligence bot ready on time. The company has even taken drastic internal organization measures, allocating resources from other areas to meet deadlines.
Other Baidu divisions, such as the one in charge of developing AI-based autonomous driving systems, have had to lend your equipment to help train the language model that will bring Ernie Bot to life. Among the coveted hardware were NVIDIA’s A100 chips, which the United States has recently banned from exporting to the Asian country.
The truth is that rumors that this technology is not ready for general release have not taken long to appear on the scene. Some claim that the bot has trouble responding accurately. Also to elaborate responses in natural language, one of the great promises made by the managers of the Asian company.
As the long-awaited event approaches, fears of potential business failure have translated into Baidu shares plunging. Specifically, these have lost more than 4% of their value today. Will the company be able to benefit its search engine as Microsoft has done with Bing or will it take a hit? We will know soon.
Images: Arseny Togulev
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