Almost six years ago, a Google computer program toppled the best player in China — and the world — at Go, an ancient Chinese board game. The defeat catalyzed China's revolution in artificial intelligence. Beijing unrolled a monumental A.I. plan, and investors poured record sums into new projects.
About six years ago, Google's computer program beat the best Chinese (and the world's) best players in Go, an ancient Chinese board game. That defeat spawned China's revolution in artificial intelligence. Beijing has launched a significant AI development plan, and investors have poured unprecedented money into new projects.
Now, a similar moment has arrived: The rise of ChatGPT has kicked off another A.I. arms race, this time in the realm of machine-generated content. On Thursday, China's first major rival to ChatGPT was unveiled in Beijing by the search giant Baidu. But the debut of the bot, dubbed Ernie, was a flop.
Now, a similar scene has played out: ChatGPT's popularity has sparked another AI race, this time in the field of machine-generated content. On Thursday, Chinese search giant Baidu unveiled China's first major competitor to ChatGPT in Beijing, but the robot, called Ernie, failed to make its debut.
Halfway through a demonstration that had been marketed as live, in which Ernie summarized a science fiction novel and analyzed a Chinese idiom, Robin Li, Baidu's chief executive, said the presentation had been prerecorded “to save time.”
In a presentation advertised as live, "Wen Xin Yiyan" summarized a science fiction novel and analyzed a Chinese idiom, but halfway through the demo, Baidu CEO Robin Li said the presentations were pre-recorded to "save time."
Baidu's shares plunged 10 percent in Hong Kong, a striking contrast to the rally earlier this year that was fueled by the company's announcement that it has had a rival to ChatGPT in the works since 2019.
Baidu's shares in Hong Kong plunged 10 percent, in stark contrast to gains earlier this year, when the company announced it had been working on a ChatGPT competitor since 2019.
The botched rollout comes as the likes of Baidu and Google rush to catch up with ChatGPT, whose maker released a new version this week. It was also a sign that China still has work to do to catch up with the United States in A.I., a race that has only intensified in recent years as relations between the two countries have deteriorated. As Washington has moved to contain competition from China, it has cut Beijing off from high-end computing chips — a key ingredient in technologies like ChatGPT and Ernie.
The launch comes as companies like Baidu and Google are scrambling to catch up with ChatGPT, with developers releasing new versions this week. Baidu's failure also shows that China still lags behind the United States in the field of artificial intelligence, a race that has intensified as relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent years. As the United States has taken steps to curb competition from China, China's access to high-end computer chips that are key components of technologies such as ChatGPT and Wen Xin Yiyan have been cut off.
Because of enormous computing requirements, only a handful of companies, most based in either the United States or China, have the capacity to build bots that rely on what are known as large language models. Microsoft has poured billions of dollars into OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
Due to the huge computing demands, only a few companies, mostly based in the United States or China, have the ability to develop robots that rely on so-called large-language models. Microsoft has poured billions of dollars into ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
Baidu's bot, whose name comes from Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration, will be open to some users starting Thursday.
The English version of Baidu's robot, named after "enhanced expression through knowledge integration," began opening up to some users on Thursday.
Ernie, Mr. Li insisted, was not a “tool for Sino-U.S. technology competition.” But he also acknowledged that ChatGPT's success had accelerated the timeline for Baidu's rollout.
Li Yanhong insisted that "Wen Xin's words" are not "a tool for Sino-US scientific and technological confrontation." But he also acknowledged that the success of ChatGPT accelerated Baidu's progress to launch the product.