Baidu opens up its ERNIE generative AI to the public

Another ChatGPT rival is out in the wild. Baidu has made ERNIE Bot, its generative AI product and large language model, generally available to the public through various app stores and its website. Alongside ERNIE (Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration), the company plans to release a string of AI apps it says will allow folks "to fully experience the four core abilities of generative AI: understanding, generation, reasoning, and memory." Opening up ERNIE Bot (which is focused on the Chinese market) to the public will enable Baidu to obtain much more human feedback, according to CEO Robin Li. The company notes that this will help it iterate on ERNIE Bot more quickly and improve the user experience. Baidu announced the chatbot back in March, demonstrating capabilities such as summarizing a sci-fi novel and offering suggestions on how to continue the story in an expanded universe.