Baidu files charges against Apple over fake Ernie bot app
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Baidu, a leading search engine in China, has filed multiple lawsuits against app developers and tech giant Apple. The lawsuits revolve around the fake copies of the search engine’s Ernie bot application listed on the Apple App Store.
Baidu files lawsuits against Apple and app developers
Baidu has an artificial intelligence platform that is powered by an Ernie bot. The feature was released last month, and it has been promoted as the closest competing platform in China for the US-developed ChatGPT chatbot that has become an internet sensation since its launch.
The Chinese search engine said it had filed multiple lawsuits in Beijing Haidian People’s Court. The lawsuits were filed against app developers behind the counterfeit applications of the Ernie bot and the Apple tech giant.
Baidu issued a statement on Friday last week saying that Ernie does not have an official application. The company clarified the status of this app on the official “Baidu AI” WeChat account. The company also shared a paragraph of a court filing on the matter, saying that until the company made an official announcement, any Ernie app available in the market was fake.
The Apple App Store appears to have still listed several applications alluding to being the Ernie bot. At least four apps were available on the Apple App Store, alluding to be the Ernie bot. The bot is currently available to the users that apply for codes and access them. Baidu has also issued a warning against people that are selling the access codes.
Alibaba is also launching a chatbot
The battle for dominance in artificial intelligence has heated up, with tech giants looking to be leaders in this industry. The battle started with the launch of ChatGPT, which is an online chatbot created by OpenAI. The chatbot became an internet sensation and attracted global interest. Now, other tech giants have been rushing to release similar chatbots.
Baidu is not the only Chinese tech giant looking to launch a chatbot. Tech giant Alibaba is looking for companies to test its Tongyi Qianwen AI chatbot. Alibaba has commenced registration for businesses that want to conduct testing for its AI tool. However, the details about the chatbot have yet to be shared.
According to Reuters, the Alibaba AI chatbot was an LLM that targeted business users. The cloud computing division at Alibaba shared a teaser on the launch after sharing a message on social media saying, “Hello, my name is Tongyi Qianwen, this is our first time meeting, I welcome your feedback.”
The official website for the chatbot application has yet to share all the details. The website allows users to enter their phone numbers and email addresses to request an invitation. However, there are no specific details on the exact use of the chatbot. The formal launch of this AI chatbot is slated to launch soon. Besides Baidu and Alibaba, Huawei Technologies is also exploring an AI chatbot.
