Shift to closed-door event due to overwhelming demand from firms testing the AI bot.
Baidu, the leading Chinese search engine company, has canceled its planned livestreamed public showcase for its ChatGPT competitor, Ernie. The company announced on Monday that it would replace the event with a closed-door meeting, catering to the 120,000 businesses eager to test the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot. The decision comes in response to overwhelming demand from companies seeking to explore the capabilities of Ernie.
Format Change Amid Strong Demand
Initially, Baidu had planned to present Ernie in an open event for the media and the public. However, in light of the strong interest from firms, the company opted to shift the format to a private gathering. This change aims to better accommodate the demand from businesses that are actively testing the bot’s capabilities. Baidu, which unveiled Ernie earlier this month, joined a growing list of companies launching rivals to OpenAI’s highly popular ChatGPT, which has garnered significant attention since its debut in November.
Mixed Reactions and Market Impact
Baidu’s announcement of Ernie initially led to a muted response from the market. In March, a prerecorded demonstration by CEO Robin Li highlighted some limitations in Ernie, such as the absence of features found in ChatGPT’s GPT-4 model, including the inability to generate text from images. Following the demonstration, Baidu’s shares experienced a drop but later rebounded as users began to share positive experiences with the platform online.
Challenges for China’s AI Efforts
Despite the growing efforts of China’s tech giants to develop their own ChatGPT alternatives, including Huawei, Alibaba, and Tencent, experts note that the country’s strict internet regulations pose challenges to emulating OpenAI’s success. These restrictions impact the data sources that chatbots like Ernie rely on for training. However, industry analysts believe that local AI models could still achieve success within China’s domestic market.
The Chinese government has shown commitment to advancing AI technology and pledged increased support for its development. This further fuels competition among Chinese tech companies to refine and promote their own AI-driven innovations.
