Baidu May Face US Sanctions Over Alleged Military Use of Its AI Technology
Summary:
Reports allege that Chinese AI company Baidu could face potential US sanctions over claims the People’s Liberation Army used its technology for military purposes. Baidu counters this by stating its AI chatbot, Ernie, used in the research, is publicly available and was not specifically provided for PLA's work. A defense analyst speculates that the US may respond by imposing sanctions and a ban on Baidu products for elected officials and military personnel. Following these allegations, Baidu's stock value has dipped by 12%.
China's leading AI company, Baidu, may be looking at possible sanctions from the US following claims that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) used the firm's advanced technology for military applications. This information was revealed in a report by the South China Morning Post on January 12. The report suggested that the PLA, aided by local researchers, utilized Baidu's Ernie chatbot for their military technology projects.
In response to these allegations, Baidu made an official statement denying any involvement or permission given for the use of its technology in this research. They further explained that Ernie was just one of numerous language models used in the said research, including language models like OpenAI’s GPT3.5 and GPT4. The company emphasized that the research was conducted using the publicly accessible variant of the chatbot, Ernie, without any specialized service or business collaboration afforded to the research authors or associated institutions.
As for the sanctions, official word is yet to come out. However, Wilson Jones, a defense analyst from GlobalData, while speaking to Verdict news, hinted at the likelihood of the US imposing sanctions and banning Baidu products for elected officials and military personnel in reaction to the research report.
A similar course of action was taken by the US against Chinese tech giant Huawei in 2019, due to alleged espionage, which significantly impacted Huawei's profitability. In wake of these allegations, Baidu's stock value has dipped by 12% since the report came out on SCMP. The possible impact of US sanctions could extend much further, marking a situation unseen before where a private firm gets penalized for actions potentially outside of its control.
The report implies that the PLA only funded and collaborated with scientists in researching AI utilizing publicly accessible AI systems. Given this, it's questionable whether there was any legitimate technical or legal method for Baidu to intervene or avert the PLA’s usage. If sanctions are imposed on Baidu based merely on the evidence at hand, it could potentially discourage or threaten the progression of public-facing large language models on a global scale.
Published At
1/17/2024 9:20:00 PM
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