ChatGPT has opened a new provocation on China’s advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) creation, and Baidu’s founder Robin Li aims to launch the rival of ChatGPT, Ernie Bot. An evaluator of OpenAI’s AI bot ChatGPT and updated GPT4 language structure has set tremors in the Chinese tech forum. Many technology entrepreneurs have been left in awe, as the gap between ChatGPT’s AI model and China’s models is suspected to be a couple years, according to Robin Li.
At the China Development Forum event, Robin Li commented on Chinese tech’s gap with ChatGPT: “According to our analysis, our team’s technology is two or two months behind ChatGPT”. In order to close the gap between China’s and OpenAI’s bots, Li has urged China to keep investing in AI chatting technology insisting that “there are no unsurmountable obstacles”.
Other Chinese tech giants, such as Alibaba Group Holding, the parent company of the South China Morning Post, and Tencent Holdings, have also set plans for their AI bots to compete with ChatGPT and Ernie Bot.
In the battle of China and OpenAI’s bots, ChatGPT has recently been hit with restrictions by China. The Chinese Communist Party’s official publication, People’s Daily, offers a hopeful overview, saying it is in the “fast lane” with a difference of range of AI business services. This statement omitted trade sanctions on exporting GPU chips, fundamental to AI computation powers, to China.
Company-wise, Baidu is the Chinese internet’s leading search engine was created and is still headed by Robin Li. It offers services in many countries, combines traditional search categories with a wealth of functions, including maps, music and reading, among others. It also offers dozens of services, such as a data platform, artificial intelligence, voice services, cloud computing and a financial service. Baidu launched Ernie Bot in June 2021 to compete with ChatGPT.
Person-wise, Robin Li, is the founder and Chairman of Baidu. He gained his college degree from Peking University and later earned a Master’s degree from the State University of New York. Afterwards, he began his professional career in the United States, and eventually returned to China to begin his business activities. Since then, Mr. Li has been deeply involved in various fields of the internet industry, from search engines to artificial intelligence. In 2016, he became one of China’s most successful entrepreneurs, with his company valued at $82 billion. In 2021, he launched Ernie Bot with the purpose of competing with ChatGPT.
ChatGPT has undeniably inspired a reappraisal of China’s level of AI technology – some estimates having the gap set in months, while others in years. While its AI bots have created a competitive environment, with proposed bans and advanced chip limitations, others offer a positive outlook thanks to the country’s competitive business services and a positive entrepreneurship attitude.
