Tech's AI Arms Race in Full Swing: Meta and Baidu Join in

Meta Platforms Inc said this past week it was releasing a new large-language model, the main software behind its artificial intelligence (AI) system. It signals a heating up of the AI “arms” race as technology companies scramble to integrate AI into their businesses to impress investors.

Not to be outdone, Baidu, the dominant search engine in China, announced it is integrating its own AI chat bot named Ernie. Chinese consumers have expressed high local interest in Microsoft’s ChatGPT, which is not officially available in the country. Many Chinese companies, including Baidu, have announced they are ramping up their AI development.

The public battle to take a lead in AI technology launched at the end of 2022 with the release of ChatGPT and prompted tech giants from Alphabet Inc, and now Meta and Baidu, to announce their own offerings.

Meta's AI will be available under non-commercial license to researchers and entities affiliated with government, civil society and academia. Baidu is working on incorporating generative AI into its search algorithm, which will come with content creation and other interactive features.

AI has emerged as a bright spot for investments in the tech industry, whose slowing growth has prompted widespread layoffs and a cutback on products with little chance of success. AI is set to be the next frontier tech giants will seek to conquer as they jostle for market share and continued earnings.