Baidu’s Ernie Ai Chatbot Clones Were Stopped By Apple Through Legal Action

To halt the influx of bogus Ernie bot apps from surfacing in the App Store, Chinese technology company Baidu has filed a lawsuit against Apple and many app developers.

Baidu is suing Apple and the creators of imitation Ernie bot apps in a lawsuit that was launched on Friday in Beijing Haidian People’s Court. It aims to compel Apple to remove the problematic bogus apps and prevent app developers from distributing them.

What The Complaint Claims

In its lawsuit, Baidu claimed that it has filed claims against Apple and the creators of the imitators of its Ernie bot in Beijing Haidian People’s Court. In a statement published by its authorized “Baidu AI” WeChat account, Baidu stated that “Ernie does not currently have any official apps.” The business also uploaded a picture of its court document.

App Store Fake Applications

The business claimed in their statement that the applications on the Apple App Store posing as variations of Ernie bot are fraudulent. Any Ernie apps you see from the App Store or other stores are fraudulent, according to the statement. The Ernie bot is currently only accessible to individuals who request and obtain access codes. Baidu also cautioned against the sale of security codes in its statement.

Apple has not yet replied to the allegations. There were at least four bogus apps in Apple’s App Store with the Chinese-language name of the Ernie bot, according to investigation by the news service Reuters (as on April 8).

Ernie Bot Makes A Rough Debut

Ernie Bot was introduced on March 16 during an occasion where Baidu CEO Robin Li made a live streamed presentation. He took journalists through a series of pre-recorded demos showcasing the Chinese chatbot’s various capabilities. When the presentation was being still available to stream, the stock price of the company fell, but it later rose as a result of high demand from the Chinese corporate world.

A pre-recorded video showcasing Baidu’s AI-powered bot Ernie analyzing financial statements and creating powerpoint slides, among other industry-focused functions, was released last month.

Similar to ChatGPT and Google Bard, the Ernie (Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration) bot is indeed an AI chatbot. Users may submit assertions or discuss issues, and the bot will generate an answer based on data from a graph database.

Despite the fact that Ernie launched in March, Baidu has not yet created any apps for the platform, leaving a gap that other developers are attempting to fill. As of right now, Ernie lacks an official app, according to a statement from Baidu obtained by Reuters.

Any Ernie apps you see in the App Store or other shops are fraudulent, according to the statement posted on the official “Baidu AI” WeChat account.

Ernie bot doesn’t offer open access; instead, users must request access codes in order to use it. In its statement, Baidu advised users not to distribute the codes.

Regarding the legal actions taken against it and App Store developers, Apple has not yet made any public statements. At least four bogus Ernie bot apps also were accessible, according to a Reuters check of the App Store on Saturday.