Beijing, China – On Thursday, five Chinese technology companies, including Baidu Inc. and SenseTime Group, publicly released their artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. 

These releases were granted government approval, aligning with China's efforts to expand the utilization of such AI products, especially in the face of competition with the United States.

Ernie Bot, Baidu’s ChatGPT-like chatbot, known as "Wenxin Yiyan" in Chinese, had exclusively been available to corporate customers or specific individuals from the public who gained access by joining a waitlist until Thursday.

“We are pleased to announce that starting today, it is fully available to serve all users,” said a spokesperson for SenseTime, an AI startup in Hong Kong.

Another three AI startups, Baichuan Intelligent Technology, Zhipu AI, and MiniMax, likewise revealed parallel public releases of their products on Thursday.

Before introducing AI products to the mass market, Chinese companies are obligated to undergo security assessments and obtain clearance as per regulatory requirements.