Baidu may soon launch its own ChatGPT-style bot

China’s biggest search engine company plans to roll out a ChatGPT-style application in March, initially embedding it into its core search services, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous discussing personal information. The tool, which has not been named, will allow users to get conversational-style search results, similar to OpenAI’s popular platform.

Shares of the company rose 5.8% after Bloomberg’s report, its biggest intraday gain in nearly four weeks.

Baidu has spent billions of dollars researching AI in a years-long effort to transition from online marketing to deep technology. Its Ernie System – a large-scale machine-learning model trained on years of data – will be the foundation of its upcoming chatgpt-Like equipment, said the person. A Baidu representative declined to comment.

chatgpt, OpenAIAI’s artificial intelligence tool has lit up the internet since its public debut in November, amassing more than a million users within days and touching off debates about the role of AI in schools, offices and homes . Companies including Microsoft Corp. are investing billions to try and develop real-world applications, while others are capitalizing on the hype to raise funds. After announcing plans to incorporate ChatGPT into its content, Buzzfeed Inc. Shares more than doubled this month.

Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd. control most of China’s Internet. After rapidly falling behind its larger rivals in areas such as mobile advertising, video and social media, the search company is trying to revive growth in the mobile age. Apart from research in AI, the search giant is now also developing autonomous driving technology.

Baidu Chief Executive Officer Robin Li raised ChatGPT as an example of where the tech giant could be headed during an internal conversation in December, according to a transcript seen by Bloomberg News.

“I am very pleased that a technology that we are considering every day can attract the attention of so many people. It is not easy,” he said. He warned that commercializing generative AI by making it a “product that everyone needs” could be challenging.

ChatGPT also piqued the interest of Chinese Internet users, who shared screenshots of surprising interactions with the AI ​​bot on local social media, among others. It remains largely isolated from the rest of the world despite a heavily censored domestic Internet, a model that has helped companies such as Baidu grow as local counterparts to Google, Amazon and Facebook.

Besides Baidu, several Chinese startups are also exploring generative AI, and have attracted investors such as Sequoia and Sinovation Ventures.