Baidu’s (NASDAQ:BIDU) Ernie Bot has surpassed more than 100 million users, according to Reuters. The key milestone was announced by Baidu’s Chief Technology Officer, Wang Haifeng, at a summit in Beijing.
The chatbot has garnered this user base within nearly five months of being open to the public. Previously, Ernie Bot was only available to select users during its trial period. This year, numerous companies, both globally and within China, have swiftly moved to introduce their own chatbots.
Initially, OpenAI shook up the world with its ChatGPT in late 2022. However, Baidu’s moves gave it a key first-mover advantage in China. According to SuperCLUE, while Ernie Bot scores over all the other chatbots in the Chinese market, it still lags behind the latest version of ChatGPT.
In another development, Baidu and Chinese automaker Geely unveiled the Jiyue 07 EV in China. Jiyue is a joint venture between the two companies. Equipped with Baidu’s self-driving technology, the electric sedan is expected to be available in China next year.
What is the Forecast for Baidu Shares?
Overall, the Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Baidu, and the average BIDU price target of $170.41 implies a substantial 49% potential upside in the stock. That’s after a nearly 20% slide in the company’s share price over the past six months.
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