Baidu shares are rising today following Chinese media reports that Apple is in talks to license the Chinese tech giant’s AI services, according to the Wall Street Journal and others. Baidu operates ERNIE Bot, a large language model-based generative AI based on a concept similar to Google’s ChatGPT or Gemini. Apple has reportedly already been in talks with Google about licensing Gemini for use in iOS.
It’s unclear what the commercial deal looks like, or where or how exactly Baidu’s AI technology will appear in Apple products. Neither Apple nor Baidu have confirmed this information, but that’s to be expected: Apple tends to keep these things under wraps until the products are announced. Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT are not available in China at the moment, and may never be, so if Apple licenses a technology, it will have to go to a Chinese company.
It’s also not uncommon for Apple to find Chinese companies to build out its tech stack in China, where local regulations can hinder using the same partners it uses in the rest of the world, or even its own technology. For example, Apple uses Chinese company AutoNavi to provide map data in China. It’s entirely possible, even likely, that Apple’s AI plans will involve using technology from Google or another company in most countries around the world, and Baidu in China in particular.
