China’s Baidu has made its ERNIE Bot available to the public, marking a significant advancement in the country’s artificial intelligence sector. The move comes as China seeks to tap into the growing AI industry while imposing new regulations on developers to maintain control over online information. ERNIE Bot is the first domestic AI app to be fully accessible to the public within China.

Baidu, a major player in China’s technology landscape, has taken a major step forward in the AI sector with the public release of its ERNIE Bot. The chatbot, which was initially introduced in March, has now been made widely available to users within China. ERNIE Bot falls under the category of generative AI applications, which employ extensive data and user interactions to respond to queries in human-like language, including complex questions.

In a statement released on Thursday, Baidu announced that ERNIE Bot would be open to the general public from August 31. Additionally, the company revealed its plans to launch a range of new AI-native applications that cater to the core abilities of generative AI, including understanding, generation, reasoning, and memory.

By opening ERNIE Bot to a larger user base, Baidu aims to gather substantial human feedback that can contribute to swift improvements and refinements. Baidu’s CEO, Robin Li, highlighted the significance of this mass feedback collection to enhance the application’s capabilities.

The Chinese government recently introduced fresh regulations for AI developers, allowing them to compete in the global AI market while adhering to state-controlled information dissemination. Generative AI apps, including chatbots like ERNIE, are required to uphold socialist core values and not jeopardize national security.

ERNIE Bot demonstrated its capabilities by readily responding to general questions. However, it avoided addressing sensitive topics such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and Taiwan’s status, redirecting discussions or offering responses aligned with the Chinese government’s position.

Baidu’s move aligns with the global trend of AI development, driven in part by the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Baidu’s endeavors extend beyond AI, encompassing cloud computing and autonomous driving technology.