By Yifan Wang and Bingyan Wang
Shares of Baidu Inc. surged in Hong Kong on Tuesday as traders welcomed the Chinese web big’s plan to launch an artificial-intelligence chatbot subsequent month amid an intensifying AI race within the expertise trade.
The inventory gained as a lot as 16% to 162.90 Hong Kong {dollars} (US$20.76), placing it on monitor for its greatest share achieve in practically a yr.
Baidu on Tuesday confirmed it’s internally testing an AI chatbot, known as Ernie Bot, and expects to launch the product to the general public in March. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the corporate is growing an AI-powered chatbot, citing individuals conversant in the matter.
Investors’ pleasure in regards to the enterprise potential of AI chat providers has grown since ChatGPT, created by OpenAI, shortly gained recognition and customers. Shares of Baidu, one in all China’s leaders in AI tech, have climbed 44% to date in 2023, pushed partially by such optimism.
Baidu’s plan got here amid a flurry of comparable strikes by international tech giants as firms rush to seize market share and commercialization alternatives within the discipline of conversational AI providers.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google this week mentioned it’s rolling out a brand new chatbot service, known as Bard, for testing and plans a broader public launch within the coming weeks. Microsoft Corp. final month mentioned it’s making a multiyear, multibillion-dollar funding in OpenAI.
Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com and Bingyan Wang at bingyan.wang@wsj.com
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
