Baidu invests $140 million in generative AI startups to compete with ChatGPT-like services

China's internet search leader, Baidu Inc., has allocated $140 million to fund Chinese startups to develop generative AI and compete with ChatGPT-like services. The startup projects will be built on top of Baidu's Ernie AI model, with deployments of up to 10 million yuan each. Baidu has partnered with IDG Capital to evaluate pitches from founders and will award seed funding to demo products. Baidu's investment is part of China's rush into AI, which has accelerated since OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT. Ernie Bot, Baidu's response to ChatGPT, has already sparked rival platforms from Alibaba, Tencent, and SenseTime.