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Reports China's military is using Baidu's AI lead to stock plunge

Jan 15, 2024 - theregister.com
Baidu's stock has dropped 12% following reports linking its AI platform to the Chinese military, and allegations that China's military is circumventing US sanctions to purchase Nvidia GPUs. The South China Morning Post claimed that Chinese scientists were using Baidu's ERNIE chatbot and iFlyTek's Spark for military AI research, causing investors to fear potential US sanctions against Baidu. Baidu denied knowledge of the project and any connection to the institution conducting the research, stating that the scientists had used its publicly available APIs.

In related news, Reuters reported that Chinese military agencies and state-run AI research institutes have been able to purchase Nvidia products, including A100 and H100 GPUs, despite a US export ban. The suppliers were largely unknown China-based companies, and it is unclear how they obtained the Nvidia products. Nvidia stated that it complies with all export control laws and will take action if it learns of unlawful resales.

Key takeaways:

  • Baidu's stock has dropped 12 percent following reports linking its AI platform, ERNIE, with the Chinese military.
  • The Chinese military is allegedly using Baidu's ERNIE and iFlyTek's Spark chatbots for research purposes, specifically for training an experimental military AI.
  • Baidu denies any knowledge of or involvement in the research project, stating that the scientists involved merely used its publicly available APIs.
  • Separately, Chinese military agencies and state-run AI research institutes have reportedly been able to purchase Nvidia products, including A100 and H100 GPUs, despite a US export ban.
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