Advertisement

Baidu to roll out cloud service integrated with Ernie Bot and more products next week as generative AI wave builds

  • Baidu is the first major Chinese tech company to reveal a competitor to ChatGPT
  • The next step in Ernie Bot’s roll-out will ‘allow enterprises of different types to select the appropriate cloud services and products based on their needs’

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Baidu founder Robin Li Yanhong showcases Ernie Bot, its answer to ChatGPT.
Photo: Handout
Coco Fengin Beijing
Chinese search giant Baidu, which hit the market last week with its ChatGPT alternative named Ernie Bot, is set to launch a cloud service with integration of the generative artificial intelligence-powered chatbot and related products next week.

The next step in Ernie Bot’s roll-out will “allow enterprises of different types to select the appropriate cloud services and products based on their needs, and build their own models and applications conveniently, quickly and cost-effectively”, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Since its debut last Thursday, Ernie Bot has offered limited access to a select group of individuals at the front of a long queue, while potential corporate clients need to wait for an application programming interface (API), a tool that allows software to connect to the chatbot.

There were more than 877,000 potential users on a wait-list for the AI chatbot as of Monday afternoon, according to Ernie Bot’s official website, while more than 100,000 companies have applied for an API, the company said.

Baidu is the first major Chinese tech company to reveal a competitor to ChatGPT, the OpenAI chatbot that has made headlines across the world since its launch in November. It is not officially available in China, although some users have tapped VPNs to access the bot.

02:27

Baidu unveils China’s answer to ChatGPT, sends stocks tumbling

Baidu unveils China’s answer to ChatGPT, sends stocks tumbling

A comparative test of Ernie Bot and ChatGPT by the Post showed mixed results when tackling questions about China.

Advertisement