Demo of China's Answer to ChatGPT Disappoints Investors

Baidu Inc. debuted China's answer to ChatGPT via a recorded video, disappointing investors hoping for a real-time demo of the country's highest-profile entry in a race to dominate transformative technology. Billionaire founder Robin Li took to a Beijing stage to introduce his company's "Ernie Bot," a landmark moment for a search leader that's struggled in recent years to revitalize growth. But instead of putting the service through its paces in real time, he talked over a scripted video of interactions with the AI. Baidu's shares fell 6.4% in Hong Kong, wiping out about $3 billion of value. Thursday's launch was to have been a watershed moment for China's technology industry, lifting the lid on how AI has progressed in the world's largest internet economy.