Baidu's AI Chatbot Ernie Draws Over 100 Million Users Since Launch

Baidu's AI chatbot, Ernie Bot, has reached over 100 million users since its launch in August, according to the company's chief technology officer. The search engine giant commands over 76% of China's internet market share, with over 705 million internet users in the country. Ernie Bot is part of Baidu's strategy to integrate advanced AI into its internet services, and the company's founder has touted its latest version, Ernie 4.0, as superior to its predecessors and compared it to OpenAI's GPT-4 model. However, Ernie Bot's regional focus requires a Chinese phone number for registration, indicating a more localized approach compared to globally accessible chatbots.