Baidu’s ChatGPT-Style AI Begins to Earn as Sales Beat Estimates
- The company expects Ernie to propel ad revenue this quarter
- Baidu’s generative AI services gaining traction, execs say
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Baidu Inc.’s ChatGPT-style Ernie bots are beginning to add to the company’s top line, potentially shoring up advertising revenue for China’s internet search leader during a severe economic downturn.
The company, which this year delivered China’s first major riposte to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, posted slightly stronger-than-expected 6% rise in revenue to 34.4 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) from July to September. Ernie, the company’s moniker for its generative AI model, should help generate hundreds of millions of yuan in additional ad revenue during 2023’s final quarter, the company estimates. Its shares rose more than 1% in pre-market trading in New York.