China: ChatGPT's Rival Ernie Bot Claims Over 200M Users

Facts

• Baidu, a Beijing-based internet company, said Tuesday that its Ernie Bot artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot has over 200M users since its launch in 2023 and handles more than 50M daily queries.¹
• Baidu's Chief Executive Officer Robin Li claimed that ChatGPT's Chinese rival has doubled its user base since December, remaining the PRC's most popular AI chatbot.²
• In addition, Ernie has about 85K enterprise clients, with Baidu reportedly earning hundreds of millions of yuan by using AI in its advertising services.³
• Earnie, released to the public last August, is China's first locally developed chatbot. However, domestic rivals, such as the Alibaba-backed Kimi chatbot, have reportedly been growing faster.⁴
• Kimi's visits surged 321.6% in March, while Ernie's rose 48%. However, Chinese chatbots trail their Western rivals — ChatGPT alone had 1.86B views last month.⁵
• China has reportedly approved up to 117 large AI models, indicating its eagerness to establish a firm presence in the rapidly evolving field.⁴

Sources: ¹CNBC, ²Tech Times, ³Elblog.Pl, ⁴Reuters and ⁵Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Elblog.Pl. Ernie's surge showcases Baidu's AI commitment. Its success mirrors the world's increasing reliance on AI, which is shaping digital communication's future. Chinese companies like Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba invest heavily in AI, expecting market growth despite challenges like data security, ethics, and linguistic nuances. China's Chatbot sector is expanding by leaps and bounds.
• Anti-China narrative, as provided by politico.com. The US and Europe must take the prospect of China's rise in the AI sector seriously. Failing to do so could mean a global community structured to be dependent on AI systems which could tilt non-aligned nations into Beijing's orbit and give a dangerous authoritarian bent to the evolution of the technology. Western powers must counteract the PRC's troubling ascent in the AI arena.
• Narrative C, as provided by #SixthTone. China and the US must increasingly engage in an AI dialogue, which is crucial for navigating the field's future challenges. Collaboration between industry and academia is vital, though it will be complex due to competition and governance concerns. Prioritizing AI safety remains a global imperative — Washington and Beijing must put aside geopolitical rivalries to mitigate the risks.

Predictions