• Baidu’s Ernie Bot surpasses 100 million users, announced by CTO.
• Launched publicly in August after a successful trial.
• Leads Chinese chatbots but trails ChatGPT by over 10 points in ranking.

During a deep learning summit in Beijing, Wang Haifeng, Chief Technology Officer of Baidu, announced that the Chinese internet company’s ChatGPT-like Ernie Bot has successfully garnered more than 100 million users.

This significant user base milestone comes after the public launch of Ernie Bot in August, preceded by a five-month trial period where select users tested the chatbot’s capabilities.

Baidu’s strategic move to partially unveil Ernie Bot in March, though initially deemed underwhelming by analysts, provided the company with a valuable first-mover advantage in a market that has since become saturated with numerous players. Chinese tech companies, both large and small, are actively developing their own chatbots powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI).

The momentum in the AI chatbot space gained traction following the late 2022 launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT (MSFT.O), which quickly became the fastest-growing software application worldwide within six months. This success propelled OpenAI’s valuation to over $80 billion, with Microsoft holding a 49% stake in the for-profit subsidiary.

Baidu’s CEO, Robin Li, has consistently emphasized the potential of Ernie Bot and related products to contribute to the company’s market share growth in mainstream businesses, including search engine services, cloud computing, and smart cars.

According to a ranking published by SuperCLUE on Thursday, which assesses generative AI-powered chatbots, Ernie Bot leads among Chinese chatbots. However, its score of 79.02 is more than 10 points lower than the latest version of ChatGPT, indicating the competitive landscape in the evolving AI chatbot market.

Baidu continues to invest in and promote Ernie Bot as a key component of its technological arsenal, aiming to leverage its capabilities for broader applications across various sectors. The achievement of over 100 million users underscores Ernie Bot’s growing influence and popularity in the dynamic landscape of AI-driven conversational agents.

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