Photo/NBD

Baidu has named its ChatGPT-like project "ERNIE Bot", National Business Daily learned from the tech giant on February 7. 

The new project's close beta test is scheduled be completed in March, and then will be open to the public. 

Baidu's shares on the Hong Kong stock market once rose about 18% in the morning session of February 7. 

Last September, Baidu CEO Robin Li said that the development of artificial intelligence will have directional changes "in terms of technology and business application".

At present, Baidu has full-stack deployment in the four-layer architecture of artificial intelligence - underlying chip, deep learning framework, large models, and applications such as search. ERNIE Bot belongs to the layer of large models.

When interviewed by National Business Daily, Che Wanxiang, professor of School of Computer Science and Technology and doctorial tutor, Harbin Institute of Technology, said that Baidu has strong technical strength, and it would be a matter of course for the behemoth to make a domestic version of ChatGPT if it wants to.

On November 30, 2022, OpenAI, a research laboratory for artificial intelligence, released its brand new chatbot model ChatGPT, which attracted global attention. On February 2, 2023, OpenAI launched a new pilot subscription plan for ChatGPT - ChatGPT Plus, which will be available at a price of $20 per month.