Baidu Shares Plunge on Report Linking AI to Chinese Military, Raising U.S. Sanction Fears
• Baidu shares plunged 12% in Hong Kong after a report linked its AI chatbot technology to China's military, raising investor fears of potential U.S. sanctions • The sell-off came after a report described how a Chinese research institute affiliated with the PLA used Baidu's Ernie Bot to analyze combat data and predict battlefield outcomes • Baidu denied any partnership with the research institute, saying it has no knowledge of the project and that any use of Ernie likely involved the publicly available version • The links between Baidu's AI and China's military come amid rising U.S.-China tensions, with Washington sanctioning Chinese tech firms over military concerns • Baidu has stockpiled Nvidia chips to train its AI models, though it is also reportedly ordering alternatives from local suppliers like Huawei