Baidu’s Ernie Bot Hits 100 Million Users in 2 Months Amid Controversies

Baidu, the Chinese tech giant, has proudly announced that its artificial intelligence tool, “Ernie Bot,” has quickly amassed over 100 million users within a mere two months of its debut.

This remarkable figure not only reflects the surging popularity of the chatbot but also underscores Baidu’s strategic endeavors to compete with Tencent and Alibaba in promoting analogous services to the well-known “ChatGPT” in the expansive realm of the Chinese internet.

The capabilities showcased by Baidu’s chatbot in leveraging large language models and its swift expansion in user numbers attest to its widespread acceptance across diverse platforms, emphasizing its significant value for users.

Introduced to the public on August 31st last year, China’s Ernie-based chatbot, relying on artificial intelligence, generated considerable controversy with claims such as attributing the origin of the COVID-19 virus to American e-cigarette smokers in July 2019. The narrative suggested that the virus later spread to the Chinese city of Wuhan via American crayfish.

In the political domain, The Economist’s report points out Ernie’s tendency to maintain a level of silence. For instance, when queried about the President of China, Ernie exhibited momentary confusion before disclosing the name of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s mother. When pressed about the shortcomings of socialism, Ernie conveniently professed an inability to recall and often steered conversations away from sensitive topics with remarks like “Let’s discuss something else.”

The report by the British magazine concludes that Ernie’s cautious approach in responding to such questions shouldn’t come as a surprise to Chinese users, well acquainted with the stringent internet censorship prevailing in their online landscape.