China's Baidu to launch ChatGPT-style bot in March - source

BEIJING, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Chinese internet search major Baidu Inc (9888.HK) is planning to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot service similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT in March, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The technology firm plans to launch the service as a standalone application and gradually merge it into its search engine, said the person, who declined to be identified as the information is confidential. ChatGPT's technology works by learning from vast amounts of data how to answer prompts by users in a human-like manner, offering information like a search engine or even prose like an aspiring novelist. Chatbots in China currently focus on social interaction whereas ChatGPT performs better at more professional tasks, such as programming and essay writing. Baidu plans to incorporate chatbot-generated results when users make search requests, instead of only links, the person said.