Baidu scraps public launch for its ChatGPT-like product ‘Ernie Bot’

Chinese search engine large Baidu on Monday cancelled a deliberate livestreamed product launch associated to its ChatGPT-like “Ernie bot” that it had marketed as being open to media and the general public.

The webcast, scheduled for Monday afternoon, was switched to a closed-door assembly with the primary batch of firms which can be testing the product, Baidu stated in a press release on Monday morning.

The motive behind the change in format was as a way to fulfill the “strong demand” from 120,000 firms that had utilized to check Ernie bot, the corporate stated, including this is able to be the primary of many closed-door conferences.

Baidu’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell as a lot as 4.5% on Monday morning on preliminary experiences of the cancellation.

Ernie bot, to date China’s closest reply to U.S.-developed ChatGPT, was launched on March 16 by Baidu CEO Robin Li, who gave a livestreamed presentation that walked journalists by way of a collection of pre-recorded demos displaying the Chinese chatbot’s totally different capabilities.

The firm’s share worth dropped whereas the presentation was nonetheless being livestreamed however rebounded the next day, due partially to sturdy demand from the Chinese company sector for generative synthetic intelligence (AI), the expertise powering merchandise like Ernie bot and ChatGPT.

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