Baidu’s Hong Kong shares rebound as users test ChatGPT-like Ernie bot

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Hong Kong-listed shares in China’s Baidu rebounded 15.7% on Friday as users told of their experiences with the Ernie bot, recouping losses from a day earlier prompted by the chatbot’s launch, which failed to impress.

On Thursday, viewers of the Chinese search engine giant’s presentation panned the company’s lack of a live demonstration and a public launch, comparing it unfavourably to the capabilities and free-to-use launch of U.S. research lab OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November.