Chinese tech giant Baidu declared Thursday that their Ernie bot, similar to ChatGPT, would now be available to everybody. This announcement demonstrated the approval of Beijing, along with another example of a more tolerant approach to artificial intelligence. During an earnings call the prior week, Robin Li, the CEO of Baidu, described the new AI regulations as "more encouraging of innovation than regulation" and noted that the organization was "very confident about what the future holds with regards to a more advantageous regulatory environment."
On Thursday, Baidu released its popular Ernie bot to the public, and its Hong Kong-listed shares surged by 3%. This signals a more relaxed policy stance from Beijing on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Initial access was limited, but as of Wednesday, CNBC was able to access Ernie bot without the requirement of a Chinese ID number. The news follows the surge of OpenAI's ChatGPT worldwide this year, although it cannot be used in China due to the blocked access to Google and Facebook.
Chinese leaders have made numerous declarations about the importance of developing native technology, particularly artificial intelligence. A new interim regulation came into force on August 15th that is more lenient in requirements than what had been proposed in April, which would have applied even during the research phase. The new regulation does not mandate a blanket license as a prerequisite; instead, it only stipulates the need for one when expressly required by laws and regulations, but does not mention which ones. On a national level, China has implemented stricter protection of personal data and network security. In a recent earnings call, Baidu CEO Robin Li described the regulation as “more pro-innovation than regulation” and expressed his optimism regarding the regulatory environment. He added that the company is still awaiting the go-ahead for a large-scale introduction of Ernie bot in consumer-facing applications.
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Several Chinese companies have been producing AI items. Just last week, Kunlun Tech -- the parent organization of the Opera web browser -- unveiled an AI-based chatbot and search engine called Tiangong AI search, which it compared to Microsoft Bing's collaboration with OpenAI, due to Tiangong also providing web links with its answers. Prior to this, the majority of such AI products in China were only offered to corporate partners for exclusive use. The technology of the two chatbots is undetermined, although their essential functionality is mostly similar. In addition, Ernie Bot and Tiangong both have their own individual iPhone applications. In June, notwithstanding the establishment of an iPhone app in May, ChatGPT's popularity began to fall, as outlined by a Bank of America report.
Kif Leswing from CNBC has contributed to this report.
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