China’s Baidu reveals more possibilities for AI-powered chatbot Ernie

BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) – Chinese search engine Baidu ( 9888.HK ) on Monday shared pre-recorded videos of its AI-powered chatbot Ernie summarizing financial statements and producing PowerPoint presentations, among other industry-focused features.

According to images shared by a Baidu spokesperson in a media-facing group on WeChat, China̵[ads1]7;s most widely used messaging service, the Chinese chatbot has a wider range of skills than previously shown when it launched nearly two weeks ago.

Back then, the ChatGPT-like product proved to be competent in generating images with text messages, composing poetry and producing audio in Chinese dialects.

The videos shared on Monday show the chatbot, powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI), producing itineraries and virtual, human-like live streamers that can advertise products using scripts tailored to the user’s needs.

These videos were from a closed-door meeting hosted by Baidu’s AI Cloud division for the first group of companies testing an industry-focused version of the chatbot.

The meeting was originally intended to be a live product launch open to the media and public, but the format was changed to prioritize the “strong demand” from more than 120,000 companies that had applied to test the Ernie bot, the company said in a statement on Monday morning , adding that this will be the first of many closed doors.

However, the change sent Baidu’s Hong Kong-listed shares down as much as 4.5% on Monday morning.

More companies will be able to sign up to test the industry-focused version of the Ernie bot starting March 31, while the regular version of the app is still open for testing for users lucky enough to get invite codes.

Tests conducted by Reuters show that the regular version has a good command of the Chinese language, but produces factual errors and avoids answering political questions.

The Ernie bot, so far China’s closest answer to US-developed ChatGPT, was launched on March 16 by Baidu CEO Robin Li, who gave a live-streamed presentation that walked journalists through a series of pre-recorded demos showing the Chinese chatbot’s various capabilities.

The company’s share price fell while the presentation was still being live streamed, but rebounded the next day, partly due to strong demand from the Chinese corporate sector.

Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Jamie Freed and Sharon Singleton

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