Baidu's Ernie Chatbot Reaches 100 Million Users | PYMNTS.com
Baidu’s Ernie artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot has reportedly amassed 100 million-plus users. The Chinese internet company announced that milestone at a Thursday (Dec. 28) deep learning summit in Beijing, as reported by Reuters.
Public Rollout of Ernie
Baidu launched Ernie in August after receiving approval from the Chinese government to release their AI chatbots to the public. 
Prior to this public rollout, Ernie was only available to a small group of test users. ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, also introduced its Doubao AI chatbot to the public around the same time.
According to PYMNTS, the launch of these AI chatbots signifies a strategic move for ByteDance and Baidu to enhance their business models and increase advertising revenue. Baidu’s founder and CEO, Robin Li, mentioned that the public release of Ernie will enable the company to gather real-world human feedback to enhance the chatbot more effectively.
Regulation and Market Competition
China implemented new regulations for AI, consisting of 24 guidelines, which came into effect in August. 
Despite facing some criticism initially, Baidu became the first Chinese tech company to launch a chatbot in a market that now has numerous competitors.
Ernie's launch followed Open AI's ChatGPT, which quickly became the world's fastest-growing software application within six months of its release. Open AI reported that the ChatGPT mobile app had over 110 million downloads and generated $28.6 million in consumer spending globally.
The Impact of AI in 2023
In 2023, AI has significantly impacted various industries, including payments. AI technology has the potential to revolutionize workflows, from customer service to back-office operations, offering efficiency and optimization opportunities. As noted, AI promises to transform the payments industry by streamlining resource-heavy processes and manual reconciliations. 
Despite the long-standing presence of payments, Form3 CEO Michael Mueller emphasized in an interview with PYMNTS that the sector remains a dynamic and growth-oriented industry.
