The company behind the Chinese search engine will launch a similar artificial intelligence chatbot service to OpenAI’s controversial and popular ChatGPT in March, a source told Reuters. (Reuters)

Talking point: Baidu declined Reuters’s request for comment, but the source said it will first launch as a standalone app before merging with the search engine. ChatGPT, which launched in November, answers prompts in a number of formats using data it has absorbed from the internet. The chatbot’s popularity has helped set off a race to develop generative AI technologies. San Francisco-based AI startup Anthropic, for example, is reportedly close to raising about US$300 million at a roughly US$5-billion valuation. In December, Google’s leadership declared a “code red” over ChatGPT and similar chatbot challengers. Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest corporate backer, is reportedly in talks to use the technology in its search engine by the end of March.