China's upcoming Baidu AI chatbot will soon challenge Microsoft-backed ChatGPT

ChatGPT will soon have its rival when Chinese multinational technology company Baidu, Inc. releases its own AI chatbot service in March. (via Reuters)

Sources of Reuters reported that Baidu, Inc., a company specializing and investing heavily in AI and internet services, will launch a chatbot similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. According to the people familiar with the matter, the technology will be in the form of a standalone application. Soon, it will also be integrated into Baidu’s search engine gradually.

The integration will improve the company’s internet service, which primarily focuses on providing links. Once merged, Baidu’s internet service will include chatbot-generated results, but it is still unclear how specifically it will function beyond that. Currently, chatbots in China focus on social interaction, but it is unconfirmed if Baidu’s chatbot will just be like that or more like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, equipped to perform professional tasks, such as writing essays or composing proses and programming. This latter case, nonetheless, is not impossible to be pushed by Baidu. Last month, the company showcased three AI-powered “creators” that can work like a screenwriter, illustrator, editor, or animator.

Weeks ago, Microsoft announced its plan to integrate ChatGPT into Bing and its other services, such as Office apps and Teams. Once the AI integrations are implemented, Baidu, Inc. and Microsoft Corporation could soon face each other face to face as both continuously invest a lot in artificial intelligence technologies. For Microsoft, nonetheless, Google remains its biggest rival at the current time.