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Baidu, the Chinese internet giant, has announced that its chatbot Ernie Bot has attracted more than 100 million users. Ernie Bot is a conversational agent that uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create natural and engaging dialogues with users.
Wang Haifeng, the chief technology officer of Baidu, revealed the impressive figure at a deep learning summit in Beijing on Thursday. He said that the Bot was launched to the public in August, after a partial unveiling and a trial period of more than five months.
Ernie Bot is similar to ChatGPT, a popular chatbot developed by OpenAI, a U.S. research organization. ChatGPT was released in late 2022 and became the fastest-growing software application in the world within six months. It has been valued at more than $80 billion by investors, and Microsoft (MSFT.O) has invested $13 billion in a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI, for a 49% stake.
How Ernie Bot differs from ChatGPT
Ernie Bot is not a direct copy of ChatGPT, but rather a customized version that suits the Chinese market and language. Baidu has developed its natural language processing (NLP) technology and data resources to power Ernie Bot and has integrated it with its other products and services, such as search engines, cloud, and smart cars.
Baidu CEO Robin Li has repeatedly praised Ernie and its potential to help the company gain market share in its mainstream businesses. He said that Ernie Bot can provide users with personalized and intelligent information and services, and enhance user loyalty and satisfaction.
How Ernie Bot compares with other Chinese chatbots
Ernie Bot is not the only chatbot in China that uses generative AI. Since the launch of ChatGPT, many Chinese tech companies, large and small, have been developing their chatbots to compete in the booming market.
However, It has a clear lead over its rivals, according to a ranking published on Thursday by SuperCLUE, which evaluates generative AI-powered chatbots. The Bot scored 79.02, the highest among all Chinese chatbots, and more than 10 points higher than the second-place chatbot.
The ranking also showed that Ernie Bot has a strong performance in various aspects of conversation, such as coherence, fluency, relevance, diversity, and emotion. It can handle different topics and scenarios, and can even generate jokes, stories, and poems.
Ernie Bot is expected to continue to grow and improve, as Baidu invests more in its research and development, and collects more feedback and data from its users. Ernie Bot is also likely to expand to more platforms and domains and offer more features and functions to its users.
Who are the competitors of Baidu in China?
Baidu is one of the largest internet companies in China, but it faces competition from other tech giants and start-ups. Some of the main competitors of Baidu are:
- ByteDance: ByteDance is the parent company of TikTok, a popular short-video platform that has over 1 billion users worldwide. ByteDance also owns several other apps, such as Douyin, Toutiao, and Xigua, that offer content creation, news aggregation, and live streaming services. ByteDance competes with Baidu in the fields of online advertising, social media, and artificial intelligence.
- Tencent: Tencent is the owner of WeChat, the most widely used messaging and social media app in China, with over 1.2 billion monthly active users. Tencent also operates other platforms, such as QQ, Qzone, and Weibo, that cater to different segments of the market. Tencent competes with Baidu in the areas of online communication, entertainment, gaming, and cloud computing.
- Alibaba Group: Alibaba Group is the leading e-commerce company in China, with platforms such as Taobao, Tmall, and AliExpress that dominate the online retail market. Alibaba Group also has a strong presence in other sectors, such as online payment, cloud computing, digital media, and artificial intelligence. Alibaba Group competes with Baidu in the domains of online shopping, search engine, and cloud services.
These are some of the major competitors of Baidu in China, but many other smaller players challenge Baidu’s position in the industry. Baidu has to constantly innovate and improve its products and services to maintain its competitive edge and market share.
