tech360.tv
Apr 173 min
Baidu's AI chatbot, known as "Ernie Bot," has achieved a significant milestone by attracting over 200 million users, according to an announcement made by the Chinese tech giant on Tuesday. The company is determined to maintain Ernie Bot's position as China's most popular ChatGPT-like chatbot amidst intensifying competition in the market.
This impressive user base represents a doubling in numbers since Baidu's last update in December. Ernie Bot was initially launched to the public eight months ago and has since gained immense popularity among users.
In addition to the growing user base, Baidu CEO Robin Li revealed that Ernie Bot's application programming interface (API) is being utilised a staggering 200 million times every day. This indicates that users are actively engaging with the chatbot and relying on it to perform various tasks throughout the day.
During a conference in Shenzhen, Li also shared that the number of enterprise clients for Ernie Bot has reached an impressive 85,000. This demonstrates the widespread adoption of the chatbot by businesses seeking to leverage its capabilities.
Baidu has been actively monetising Ernie Bot, with Li previously stating that the company started generating revenue from the chatbot in February. In the fourth quarter of last year, Baidu earned several hundred million yuan by utilising AI to enhance its advertising services and assist other companies in developing their own AI models.
Ernie Bot made headlines last March as the first domestically developed ChatGPT-like chatbot to be announced in China. However, it only received approval for public release in August, being one of the first eight AI chatbots approved by Beijing.
While Ernie Bot has enjoyed significant success, it faces competition from other domestic AI services. One notable competitor is the "Kimi" chatbot developed by Moonshot AI, a start-up backed by Alibaba. Recent data from AIcpb.com, a website that tracks user visits to online AI services, reveals that Kimi is rapidly catching up to Ernie Bot.
In the previous month, Ernie Bot received a total of 14.9 million visits across its app and website, while Kimi recorded 12.6 million visits. Kimi's growth rate in March was an impressive 321.6% compared to February, while Ernie Bot experienced a growth rate of over 48%.
Despite the progress made by Chinese generative AI services, they still lag behind their Western counterparts on a global scale. OpenAI's ChatGPT remains the most popular generative AI service worldwide, with a total traffic of 1.86 billion views last month, as reported by AIcpb.com.
China has been actively accelerating approvals for AI services, recognising the importance of AI as a key area in which the country must compete with the United States. State media recently reported that 117 large AI models have received approvals thus far, indicating the government's commitment to fostering AI innovation.
Baidu's AI chatbot, Ernie Bot, has attracted over 200 million users, doubling its user base since December.
The chatbot's API is being used 200 million times daily, showcasing its active engagement with users.
Ernie Bot has gained 85,000 enterprise clients, highlighting its widespread adoption by businesses.
Source: REUTERS