China's Baidu on Tuesday trumpeted improved capabilities of its new "generative" artificial intelligence model at its annual technology conference in Beijing. BIDU stock slipped in morning trades as technology shares pulled back.
China's internet search giant's Chief Executive Robin Li said the capabilities of the new foundation model, Ernie 4.0, are "not inferior to (OpenAI's) GPT-4," according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Baidu Stock: AI Race Underway
"Ernie 4.0 has achieved a full upgrade with drastically improved performance in understanding, generation, reasoning, and memory," Li said in a statement. "These four core capabilities form the foundation of AI-native applications and have now unleashed unlimited opportunities for new innovations."
While OpenAI, whose biggest investor is Microsoft, is considered the leader in generative AI, major rivals have emerged. Google-parent Alphabet's "Gemini" foundation model is expected out in December.
New generative AI models use massive amounts of data and computing power to enable users to create generally high quality text, images, video and computer programming code on their own.
Large language models, also called foundation models, provide the building blocks to develop applications. LLMs help AI systems understand the way that humans write and speak. Also, LLMs require training data for specific tasks. Companies with access to troves of data hold an edge.
On the stock market today, Baidu stock fell 4.1% to close at 119.76.
BIDU Stock Technical Ratings
Further, NY-listed shares of Baidu have gained 9% in 2023.
Meanwhile, BIDU stock holds a Relative Strength Rating of 47 out of a best-possible 99. Baidu stock holds an entry point of 160.88, according to IBD Stock checkup. Buy points are prices representing key resistance, and once cleared the stock has a tendency to advance. BIDU stock trades well below the entry point.
Like most tech companies Baidu is scrambling to become a player in generative AI. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has imposed restrictions on AI chip sales to China.
In 2018, Baidu Chief Operating Officer Qi Lu stepped down. A former top Microsoft executive, Lu had led Baidu's artificial intelligence initiatives.
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