Chinese tech giant Baidu has launched a new large language model (LLM), Ernie 4.0 Turbo, to stay at the forefront of AI development. It’s an upgraded version of the Ernie 4.0 model from October 2023, with faster responses and better performance.
Reuters reports that people will get access to Ernie 4.0 Turbo via mobile apps and the web. Baidu’s chief technology officer Wang Haifeng said during an event that developers will be able to integrate the technology using the company’s Qianfan AI platform.
ERNIE is short for “Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration,” and the AI model was introduced in 2019.
Among various uses, it’s the backbone of Ernie Bot, a chatbot Baidu unveiled last year after doing internal testing to rival ChatGPT.
It also talked about the integration of chatbot in applications in smart cars, cloud, and other areas.
Wang revealed some insights and said that the generative AI product Ernie Bot has reached 300 million users since its launch.
Moreover, Baidu’s PaddlePaddle AI ecosystem has been upgraded to PaddlePaddle 3.0. The ecosystem has been used by 14.65 million developers and served 370,000 institutions and organizations.
According to SeekingAlpha, Baidu noted that the Ernie API now deals with 500 million queries/day compared to April, when it handled 200 million in a day. During the event, the company also launched some AI tools aimed at the agriculture sector and farmers.
The news comes not long after OpenAI announced it would cut access to China and some other countries, barring the use of its API and technology from July 9 onwards.
Reuters reports that Baidu and other domestic AI firms have started damage control by offering users free migration services and incentives.
Meanwhile, OpenAI unveiled its new GPT-4o model and a new desktop app for macOS last month. The company was in hot water after one of ChatGPT’s AI Voices sounded like the American actress Scarlett Johansson.
