Chinese search engine company Baidu shares plunge after poor AI chatbot debut

Baidu's shares fell as much as 10 percent on Thursday after the company unveiled its ChatGPT-like AI software, with investors unimpressed by the bot's display of linguistic and maths skills.

The AI powered 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.

Tech giants of China have joined the global rush to develop rival software, with Alibaba and JD.com also announcing similar projects.

But Baidu's "Ernie Bot", unveiled at a press event in Beijing on Thursday, fell short of expectations with the company's co-founder Robin Li showing only a pre-recorded demonstration of the software's capabilities, rather than a live interaction.