Apple Hit With Lawsuit Over Fake Versions Of ChatGPT Rival Ernie AI Chatbot
The Ernie (Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration) bot is an AI chatbot meant to compete with the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Bard. A tweet from Baidu's official Twitter account explains, "ERNIE Bot demonstrates proficiency in the latest trend of generative AI, from literary creation to business writing."
ERNIE Bot demonstrates proficiency in the latest trend of generative AI, from literary creation to business writing. Its abilities allow it to generate written content with a high degree of skill and expertise.#ERNIEBot #文心一言 #AI pic.twitter.com/GPhMdIDJW7
— Baidu Inc. (@Baidu_Inc) April 6, 2023
During a marketing event in March of last year, Baidu CEO Robin Li stated that the Ernie chatbot had capabilities close to GPT-4. Li utilized a prerecorded demonstration of the AI technology, more than likely to avoid any potential mishaps a live presentation could introduce.
Baidu seems to be trying to take it a bit slower than its competition as far as allowing the public at large having access. Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing chatbot have both had their fair share of mishaps. There are also multiple examples of companies like OpenAI being sued for different reasons at the moment, such as copyright infringement and a possible defamation lawsuit in Australia. A statement from the company last week pointed out that Baidu does not even have an official app of its own yet. It followed up by stating, "Until our company's official announcement, any Ernie app you see from App Store or other stores are fake."
According to a Reuters report, the Ernie bot is only available to those who apply for and receive access codes. Baidu also warns users not to buy access codes that people are selling.
As of right now, Apple has not responded to the accusations. Apps claiming to be using Baidu's AI technology were still being spotted as late as Saturday on the App Store.
