Baidu, one of China’s leading firms in artificial intelligence development, is facing potential sanctions due to concerns over its collaboration with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The search engine company experienced a 10% drop on Monday following reports that a university affiliated with the PLA’s Strategic Support Force had tested its AI system on Baidu’s Ernie, a ChatGPT-like system.
While Baidu has denied any affiliation or partnership with the institute, the news has raised worries that the United States may impose sanctions on Chinese firms involved in such collaborations. As part of its efforts to contain China, Washington could be looking to curtail AI cooperation.
This concern comes as searches on Monday revealed that the research paper referenced in the reports had been taken offline, adding to the speculation surrounding the issue.
Baidu introduced Ernie in 2023, which quickly gained popularity in China as the country’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The AI model garnered 70 million users within three months of its launch, with Baidu claiming that its self-developed system matches the capabilities of GPT-4.
The potential sanctions on Baidu highlight the growing tensions between the US and China in the field of AI development. Controlling the collaboration between Chinese firms and the PLA’s military institutions is seen as a strategic move by the US to limit China’s influence in technology. However, it is essential to note that Baidu maintains it has no knowledge of the research project and asserts that if its AI system was used, it would have been the publicly available version.
Overall, this situation underscores the delicate balance between technological advancement and geopolitical rivalries. It remains to be seen how the potential sanctions, if imposed, will impact Baidu and other Chinese firms involved in AI collaboration with military institutions.
