Chinese users are set to get wider access to generative AI chatbots after Baidu announced plans to open registration for Ernie Bot. The move follows a period when people often needed a license, a waitlist, or approval to try services developed by Chinese companies.
Access expands after months of restrictions
Baidu launched Ernie Bot in mid-March, making it the first Chinese rival to ChatGPT. Other technology companies, including Alibaba and ByteDance, later released their own models. But access remained limited, leaving many ordinary users unable to try them.
On August 30, Baidu said on social media that it would open registration the following day. The company also said it would release a batch of new AI applications within Ernie Bot. These changes mark a shift from the earlier process, when prospective users needed a Baidu account and had to apply for a use license that could take as long as three months.
The restrictions shaped the public’s experience of the products. When Ernie Bot was released on March 16, reactions mixed excitement with disappointment: many people considered its performance mediocre compared with ChatGPT. Yet most people could not test it for themselves. Some users who secured early access sold secondhand Baidu accounts on e-commerce sites, charging anywhere from a few bucks to over $100.
A first group of chatbots gets approval
The opening is part of a broader change in who can use Chinese generative AI services. Bloomberg reported that the Chinese Cyberspace Administration issued an approval that would allow companies to roll out ChatGPT-style services to the whole country. Bloomberg, citing an anonymous source, reported that approval would go to “a handful of firms including fledgling players and major technology names.”
Sina News reported that eight Chinese generative AI chatbots were included in the first batch approved for public release. ByteDance’s Doubao, released on August 18, and Zidong Taichu 2.0, released in June by the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, were reportedly among them. Models from Alibaba, iFLYTEK, JD, and 360 were not included, according to the report.
The regulator has not officially announced which companies received a public access license or which applied. That leaves some details of the rollout unconfirmed, even as Baidu moves to open its own service. China’s first regulation specifically targeting generative AI services, released in July, asked companies to obtain “relevant administrative licenses” without specifying at the time which licenses were meant.
What chatbots can do—and why access was limited
More than a dozen Chinese generative AI chatbots appeared after Ernie Bot. Like their Western counterparts, they can converse in text, answer questions, solve math problems somewhat, write programming code, and compose poems. Some also support other forms of input or output, including audio, images, data visualization, or radio signals. Some services were limited to business uses.
Companies’ concerns about politically sensitive information were one reason for limiting public access. Existing moderation mechanisms in chatbots from Baidu and ByteDance would refuse to answer sensitive questions about Taiwan or Chinese president Xi Jinping. With services available to China’s 1.4 billion people, users might also find more clever ways to circumvent censorship. The source describes that prospect as a concern, rather than a confirmed outcome of wider access.
More users could mean more feedback
Baidu CEO Robin Li said broader availability could give the company more real-world feedback. According to a company press release, he said, “Making Ernie Bot available to hundreds of millions of Internet users, Baidu will collect massive valuable real-world human feedback. This will not only help improve Baidu’s foundation model but also iterate Ernie Bot on a much faster pace, ultimately leading to a superior user experience.”
That feedback is one possible benefit of opening access: more people using the chatbot could give Baidu more opportunities to improve its model and the service. But a larger potential audience does not guarantee that users will sign up. The earlier limits reduced public interest, and the source says it is unclear how many people will use the products. ChatGPT itself had not been officially released in China, though many Chinese people could access it using VPN software.