- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
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- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
China's Baidu says developing AI chatbot
Chinese search engine giant Baidu on Tuesday said it was developing an AI-powered chatbot, as tech giants rush to match the success of ChatGPT, a hugely popular language app that has sparked a gold rush in artificial intelligence technology.
ChatGPT, created by San Francisco company OpenAI, has caused a sensation for its ability to write essays, poems or programming code on demand within seconds, sparking widespread fears of cheating or of professions becoming obsolete.
Microsoft last month said it was investing billions in the firm and Google this week said it was working on a rival called Bard.
While a number of smaller Chinese firms have begun developing a rival to the app, Baidu is by far the biggest to throw its hat into the ring, though the firm did not announce a launch date for the service, set to be called "Ernie Bot".
A company spokesperson told AFP that they are "likely to complete internal testing in March before making the chatbot available to the public".
Baidu's shares soared more than 15 percent on the announcement.
The Chinese tech giant has diversified in recent years into artificial intelligence, cloud computing and autonomous driving technologies as advertising revenue has remained sluggish in the face of tighter regulatory scrutiny.
Baidu is expected to integrate Ernie Bot into its main search service, allowing users to get a conversation-style reply to their search results instead of getting a list of links -- similar to the experience of using ChatGPT.
With no barriers to creating AI-synthesised text, audio and video, the potential for misuse in identity theft, financial fraud and tarnish reputations has sparked global alarm.
The Eurasia group consultancy has called the AI tools "weapons of mass disruption".
And Beijing has warned that deepfakes -- which use technology similar to chatbots to create chillingly-accurate digital doppelgangers -- present a "danger to national security and social stability".
N.Esteves--PC