Baidu unveils latest version of LLM, Ernie 4.0

On Tuesday, Chinese tech heavyweight Baidu Inc unveiled the latest version of its large language model, Ernie 4.0, saying its capabilities are on par with those of OpenAI's most advanced GPT-4 model.

The newest version boasts enhanced core capacities in understanding, generation, reasoning and memory compared with previous models, said Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu, at Baidu World 2023, the company's annual flagship event held in Beijing.

Li showcased the four main capabilities of Ernie 4.0 at the launch event. He displayed the model's generative skills to produce advertising posters and videos, tested its reasoning abilities with math problems, and evaluated its memory skills by letting it write a martial arts novel in real-time.

Li said these capabilities are the foundation on which all AI-native applications thrive. Baidu has also rolled out China's first generative business intelligence product, Baidu GBI, which simplifies data queries and analysis through natural language interactions.

Baidu introduced Ernie Bot, its LLM and ChatGPT-like product, in March. In August, the company was among a number of firms to receive government approval to open its LLM to the public.

LLMs refer to computer algorithms that are trained with huge amounts of data and are capable of generating content such as images, text, audio and video. They are the key technology underpinning ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by US-based AI research company OpenAI.