On the first day of its release, the AI chatbot Ernie Bot topped many download charts, including the Chinese App Store. Millions of users tested it and asked various types of questions.
The Chinese government has lifted its tight control over ChatGPT-like apps in the country, approving its first batch of AI services for public release on the last day of August, two weeks after implementing sweeping AI regulations. Ernie Bot is one of them and has become the most popular.
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| AI Chatbot Ernie Bot topped many download charts on the first day of its release. |
According to app analytics firm Qimai.cn, Ernie Bot achieved 313,610 downloads on the App Store on August 31. Baidu's AI chatbot also ranked first in four popular Android app stores with a total of 2.4 million downloads. Like ChatGPT, users can ask questions and prompt it to help with market analysis, business ideas, or document summaries.
According to Baidu, the AI chatbot Ernie Bot is available globally, but requires a Chinese phone number to register and log in. It also only supports Chinese. Baidu plans to launch a new suite of AI applications that will allow users to “fully experience the four main functions of generative AI: understanding, creating, reasoning, and remembering.”
Ernie Bot received more than 33.42 million questions from users in 24 hours, according to the company's Weibo post. However, the AI chatbot was still unable to answer some queries and in some cases did not provide the correct answer.
Another chatbot launched on the same day as Ernie Bot, ChatGLM, has also received a lot of questions. The AI chatbot recently received investment from food delivery company Meituan. Other companies approved by the government include SenseTime, Zhipu AI, Baichuan Intelligent Technology, and MiniMax.
Under China’s generative AI regulations, companies must “adhere to the core values of socialism” and all training data for underlying models must come from sources the government deems legitimate.
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