Baidu's ChatGPT Counterpart Ernie Bot Impresses Analysts - Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU)

Baidu, Inc BIDU shares saw redemption after brokerages, including Citigroup, granted their preliminary approval to its ChatGPT counterpart.
The share gains helped reverse loss on Thursday after founder Robin Li marked its ChatGPT rival Ernie Bot's debut via recorded video instead of a real-time demo, Bloomberg reports.
Baidu's Ernie Bot is helping gauge how China's AI offerings stack up against those from Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL and ChatGPT maker OpenAI Inc.
Ernie Bot tests for tasks like advice, analysis, paper writing, and picture generation satisfied Bank of America analysts, including Miranda Zhuang.
Their sample size was small and may not have been representative, but "the product is not static but continuous learning and improving."
Citigroup analysts, including Alicia Yap, also found Erine capable of answering the most complicated or absurd questions.
The omission of a live demo raised questions over Ernie's ability to match OpenAI's ChatGPT, which posted mixed results since its November launch.
Internally, Baidu execs thought Ernie Bot had reached the same level as ChatGPT when the latter debuted in November. Still, Ernie's edge lies in its understanding of the Chinese language and culture.
Price Action: BIDU shares traded higher by 5.23% at $145.38 premarket on the last check Friday.