China AI: Baidu Ernie, the ChatGPT Rival, Is Not Doing so Good on its Launch

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 17 March 2023, 12:03 am

The internet-related multinational tech company, Baidu, brought one of China's earliest AI rivals ChatGPT to the world earlier today, and it has massive claims regarding what it can bring to users. However, reports claim that the AI chatbot, Ernie, is not doing so well upon launch, particularly to the public that already experienced the technology.

This AI copycat of ChatGPT came immediately after Microsoft announced their latest Bing with ChatGPT integration, confirming their utilization of the latest GPT-4 language model.

China's AI, Ernie from Baidu is Not Doing so Good

(Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

TechCrunch reports that the recent presentation of China's entry to the AI race, with Ernie from Baidu, underwhelmed the viewers and the audience of the event. This is because the company opted to bring extensive slides and pre-recorded videos of Ernie doing its job, instead of a live presentation that would bring its wonders.

However, it is still early to brand or claim anything for Ernie as it is still limited accessibility for only those with an invite code or granted access by the company.

The AI eventually exhibited a live demonstration at the event but was not enough to change the audience's perception.

Comments for Ernie claim that it needs to exhibit a stronger performance in actual tests, for the public to see.

Ernie is Still Young, Further Tests to Go

Baidu held a press conference earlier today which announces the arrival of its new AI chatbot, Ernie, and the company demonstrated several features and capabilities of the tech for the world to see. There were many satisfactory results that the AI brought for the viewers and the company, and it does what a normal chatbot would do for users.

However, Ernie is still young, and it has a long way to go to bring more on what the industry expects it to be, facing up with giants like ChatGPT from OpenAI.

The AI Race in the World

Since the explosion of ChatGPT's prominence and fame, many also joined in on the artificial intelligence race in the world to bring their products and services for many to experience. It was known that Google also released the Bard to integrate with its search engine but is still in a strict beta testing phase for now.

Different Chinese firms and companies are also looking into either creating their version of a generative AI chatbot from their teams or integrating the famous ChatGPT into their apps and systems.

It is only natural to have copycats in this world and age in technology, especially as ChatGPT proved to be a reliable and advancing product for its many applications in the industry.

One of the first Chinese companies to shortly release its version of an AI chatbot is Baidu with its "Ernie," and the company only showcased the tech to the world earlier today. Indeed, the AI chatbot is not yet perfect, and the same can be said for Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing, which suffered the same fate, especially in its limited-release and testing phase.