Baidu, a technology company, denied a newspaper claim that its AI chatbot, Ernie, was connected to research by the Chinese military.

The South China Morning Post, a newspaper in Hong Kong, referenced a research paper from a university connected to the cyberwarfare arm of the People’s Liberation Army. The paper revealed that the division had conducted trials on Baidu’s Ernie and iFlyTek’s Spark, two language-based AI chatbots similar to ChatGPT.

Baidu released a statement denying the accusations after its stock on the Hong Kong market dropped by 11.5% on Monday. The company clarified that it had not entered into any business partnership with the authors of the paper or their associated organizations.

The statement from the Chinese company stated that Ernie Bot is accessible and utilized by the general population.

The research conducted by the PLA Information Engineering University discussed the use of prompts by researchers to create simulated military response plans for Libyan troops, in case of a U.S. military assault.

According to Baidu, if the writers utilized extensive language models like Ernie Bot, they would have utilized the features that are accessible to all users who interact with these AI tools.

Similar to ChatGPT, individuals have the ability to ask Ernie Bot questions or make requests, resulting in generated content based on the given prompt. As with numerous other online platforms in China, Ernie Bot is also bound by censorship regulations and will not respond to inquiries perceived as politically controversial or off-limits by the Chinese authorities.

The original South China Morning Post article mentioned a connection between Ernie and a PLA division. However, the wording has been changed to state that the PLA laboratory tested their system using Baidu’s AI model.

Investors were concerned when Baidu’s stock price dropped, worried that the U.S. may impose sanctions on Chinese technology companies associated with the Chinese military or government, as it did with Huawei, a major Chinese telecommunications company believed to pose a threat to national security.

The relationship between China and the U.S. has deteriorated in recent times due to conflicting views on trade, technology, and concerns surrounding Taiwan. Taiwan, a self-governing island and ally of the U.S., is seen by China as a rebellious region that they are willing to seize by military force if needed.

In August 2023, Baidu, the top search engine in China and a major player in the field of artificial intelligence, released Ernie Bot to the public. This comes as Chinese technology companies compete to develop a ChatGPT equivalent for China.

In December, the company based in Beijing stated that their Ernie Bot had over 100 million users.

Source: wral.com