China’s Baidu released its ChatGPT rival ERNIE Bot to the public on Thursday, marking a significant step forward for the country’s tech sector as it seeks to capitalize on the artificial intelligence gold rush. The Chinese government issued new laws for AI developers this month, trying to keep them competitive with ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI and Microsoft while closely controlling information online.
What is ERNIE Bot?
ERNIE Bot is China’s first domestic AI app that is fully available to the public. It is not available outside China.
“We are thrilled to share that ERNIE Bot is now fully open to the general public starting August 31,” Baidu said in a statement on Thursday.
“In addition to ERNIE Bot, Baidu is set to launch a suite of new AI-native apps that allow users to fully experience the four core abilities of generative AI: understanding, generation, reasoning, and memory.”
The chatbot was released in March, but it was only available in limited quantities.
By making it widely available, Baidu will be able to collect “massive” human feedback in order to enhance the app quickly, CEO Robin Li was quoted as saying in the statement.
Generative AI software, such as ERNIE, is trained on massive amounts of data as well as user interactions to answer questions, even complex ones, in human-like language.
Let’s change the subject and start again.” – ERNIE Bot, when asked about pro-democracy protestors in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989
According to the guidelines announced this month, Chinese generative AI apps must “adhere to the core values of socialism” and refrain from endangering national security.
When tested by AFP on Thursday, ERNIE Bot easily answered mundane questions such as “What is the capital of China” and “Do you have any hobbies”.
On touchy themes, however, such as China’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, it added, “Let’s change the subject and start again.”
In China, public debates about Tiananmen Square are prohibited, and online material about the tragedy is heavily regulated.
When asked about Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its territory, ERNIE Bot delivered a longer answer.
“Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People’s Republic of China,” it responded. “China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be violated or divided.”
Then, it said: “Let’s talk about something else.” In response to the question “Can we freely discuss any topic”, ERNIE Bot replied: “Yes, we can talk about anything you want. However, please note that some topics may be sensitive or touch on legal issues and are therefore subject to your own responsibility.”
The global AI race
The fast popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is banned in China, inspired a global competition to develop alternative apps, including picture and video generators, but also considerable concern about the potential for abuse and deception.
According to Chinese regulations, AI developers must conduct security evaluations and file reports on their algorithms with the government if their software is determined to have an impact on “public opinion.”
They must also label artificial intelligence-generated content.
Baidu is one of China’s largest tech corporations, but it has faced competition in several fields from other companies, such as Tencent.
Aside from AI, it has sought to expand its cloud computing business and develop autonomous driving technology.
Baidu’s share price increased 3.3 percent in Hong Kong at 0330 GMT on Thursday.
Bloomberg reported that another Chinese tech titan, the Hong Kong-listed SenseTime, has also received a green light from Beijing for its service.