BEIJING – Chinese technology giant Baidu on Tuesday unveiled the newest version of its generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, Ernie 4.0, saying its capabilities were on a par with those of ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s pioneering GPT-4 model.
Baidu chief executive Robin Li introduced Ernie 4.0 at an event in Beijing, focusing on what he described as the model’s memory capabilities and demonstrating it writing a martial arts novel in real time. He also showed Ernie 4.0 creating advertising posters and videos.
Analysts were unimpressed.
Ernie 4.0’s launch lacked major highlights compared with the previous version, said Ms Lu Yanxia, an analyst at industry consultancy IDC.
Baidu’s Hong Kong shares fell 1.32 per cent in morning trading, underperforming compared with a 0.7 per cent rise in the broader Hang Seng Index.
“We should see significant improvements once Ernie 4.0 is used hands-on, but concrete upgrades aren’t immediately clear,” Ms Lu said.
Other key announcements from the event included Baidu’s integration of generative AI across all its products, including Baidu Drive and Baidu Maps, she added.
Mr Li demonstrated how Baidu Map now allows users to access functions with natural language queries powered by Ernie, whereas previously, users had to search through thousands of options.
Baidu, owner of China’s largest Internet search engine, is at the forefront of AI models in China amid a global craze over the technology sparked by the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022.
In March, the firm launched a chatbot powered by Ernie, dubbed ErnieBot, though investors were disappointed to be shown only pre-recorded demonstrations.
In August, Baidu was among a number of firms to receive government approval to release AI products to the public.
China now has at least 130 large language models, representing 40 per cent of the global total and behind only the United States’ 50 per cent, showed data from brokerage CLSA.
Last week, Beijing published proposed security requirements for firms offering services powered by the technology, including a blacklist of sources that cannot be used to train AI models. REUTERS
