Baidu's Ernie 4.0, GPT-4 's rival, isn't as impressive as it's advertised

Chinese tech giant Baidu is previewing its Ernie 4.0 AI model at this week’s event in Beijing. Claiming that it possesses more power than OpenAI’s GPT-4, analysts and market shares seem to tell a different story. 

In case you missed it, billionaire founder Robin Li told a large audience at a converted steel mill in Beijing that Ernie 4.0 is just as good as OpenAI’s GPT-4 in terms of its complexity and overall capabilities.

He proved this by testing Ernie on a variety of topics, including buying a property, writing a novel based on ancient martial arts, creating advertising materials, solving math problems, and more.

“Ernie is not inferior in any respect to GPT-4,” he said. 

Baidu plans to add AI technology to its search engine, maps, cloud drive services, and business intelligence offerings for enterprise customers, although no date has been confirmed yet.

Despite the significant improvement in the chatbot model since its August presentation, the market doesn’t seem to be impressed. Baidu shares fell 1.7% following the announcement, with analysts calling it “underwhelming.”

The Chinese government’s regulations on the AI industry may also be hampering Baidu’s ability to innovate and bring new products to market.