Baidu's ChatGPT-like app will revolutionise its search engine, says CEO
China's Baidu Inc will use its ChatGPT-like app Ernie Bot to create a "revolutionary" version of its popular search engine, the company's CEO said on Wednesday.
Baidu, which has invested heavily in artificial intelligence in recent years, is regarded as at the forefront of efforts to create a Chinese rival to the AI platform developed by OpenAI and backed by Microsoft Corp.
Ahead of Ernie Bot's launch in March, Baidu CEO Robin Li told reporters on a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter results that users would be more dependent on the Baidu search engine once it was embedded with the chatbot. That is because the generative AI powering it would enhance user experience and engagement.
"Ernie Bot will ... enhance the user experience and users will be much more dependent on us for all kinds of tasks and needs, therefore, significantly expand the market size of search (engines)," Li said.
He added that online advertising, the company's main source of revenue, would also be boosted by the integration of Ernie Bot into the search engine. Baidu plans eventually to build an AI ecosystem around Ernie Bot, he said.
The details of Li's vision for the chatbot come amid a gradual decline in the dominance Baidu once enjoyed as the Chinese answer to Alphabet Inc's Google, which pulled its search engine out of the Chinese market in 2010.
Tencent's all-in-one messaging app, WeChat, and Bytedance's Douyin are among the competitors that have chipped away at Baidu's market share in recent years.
The company has created new revenue streams by expanding its core business to include AI, cloud services and autonomous driving, as well as pouring money into research and development.
Li said on Wednesday that the generative AI
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