Beijing last month released new rules for the country’s AI developers that uphold the government’s strict information control while enabling them to compete with the likes of Microsoft and ChatGPT manufacturer OpenAI.
On Thursday, Baidu was the first among several businesses to introduce AI chatbots: SenseTime announced the registration of its service, and Baichuan Intelligent Technology and Zhipu AI announced the availability of their bots to the general public.
In a statement released on Thursday, Baidu said: “We are thrilled to share that ERNIE Bot is now fully open to the general public starting August 31.”
Along with ERNIE Bot, Baidu will soon release several new AI-native applications that will provide consumers access to the four fundamental capabilities of generative AI: comprehension, generation, reasoning, and memory.
The chatbot was initially made available in March, but there were few of them.
“Let’s discuss something else,”
The guidelines released this month stipulate that Chinese generative AI apps must “adhere to the core values of socialism” and refrain from endangering national security.
ERNIE Bot answered questions like “What is the capital of China?” and “Do you have any hobbies?” with ease when put to the test by AFP on Thursday.
On delicate subjects, though, like China’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, it urged: “Let’s change the topic and start again.”
China is very sensitive about Tiananmen, and any information or debate about it online is strictly prohibited.
ERNIE Bot gave a more detailed response when asked about Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own.
It answered, “Taiwan is a part of the People’s Republic of China’s sacred territory. “China’s territorial integrity and sovereignty cannot be violated or divided.”
It continued, “Let’s talk about something else.”
A global AI race
According to CEO Robin Li, Baidu will be able to quickly enhance the app by gathering “massive” human feedback by making ERNIE widely available.
To be able to respond to queries, even difficult ones, in human-like language, generative AI programs, such as chatbots like ERNIE, are trained on enormous amounts of data as well as user interactions.
A worldwide race to create competing apps, including image and video generators, was inspired by the quick success of US-based OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is prohibited in China. However, there was also considerable concern about the possibility of abuse and misinformation.
If an AI developer’s software is determined to affect “public opinion” under Chinese regulations, they are required to conduct security evaluations and provide paperwork on their algorithms to the authorities.
They must also label content produced by AI.
One of China’s largest tech giants, Baidu, has had to contend with rivals like Tencent in several industries.
Along with AI, it has also sought to expand its cloud computing sector and create autonomous vehicle technologies.
At about 04:30 GMT on Thursday, Baidu shares were up 3.2% in Hong Kong.
