Baidu, SenseTime open AI chatbots to the public after China grants first approvals for such services
- Baidu, SenseTime, ZhipuAI and Baichuan have received government approvals to provide generative AI services to the public
- While some users are eager to try out local AI chatbots, others say they are content with using ChatGPT via virtual private networks
China has granted its first batch of approvals for generative artificial intelligence (AI) services, giving technology firms including search giant Baidu and AI specialist SenseTime the green light to offer ChatGPT-like chatbots to the public.
Those two companies – along with Zhipu AI, a state-backed start-up, and Baichuan, a new venture by Sogou co-founder Wang Xiaochuan that is backed by Tencent Holdings – issued separate statements early on Thursday, announcing the removals of the “invite-only” or “beta testing” labels that had been attached to their AI chatbots.
Baidu’s internet search engine has added a “dialogue” button that appears on top of search results. Clicking it brings up a chat window that allows anyone to access the company’s Ernie Bot, similar to how Microsoft has integrated ChatGPT into its Bing search engine.
Robin Li Yanhong, founder and chairman of Baidu, said that opening up Ernie Bot to hundreds of millions of internet users would help improve the firm’s foundational model by encompassing feedback from a broader set of use cases, according to a company statement.
One of those who rushed to download Ernie Bot was Hai Jie, an employee at a state-run telecommunications company in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province. Hai said he wanted to try out the tool’s image-generating feature, as he sometimes needs to illustrate his presentations at work, but is not always able to find suitable pictures.
