China's Baidu bolsters AI lineup with text-to-image generator, no-code app builder

China's Baidu Inc unveiled a slew of new applications for its artificial intelligence techlogy on Tuesday, including a text-to-im generator and a tool that enables users to develop software applications without coding expertise.

country's leing search engine company is among tech firms shifting ir focus to commercialisation of large langu model (LLM) applications after nearly two years of heavy investment in research and development in models that y tout as alternatives to OpenAI's GPT.

At annual Baidu World Conference, CEO Robin Li introduced I-RAG, a text-to-im techlogy that levers Baidu's search capabilities to dress "hallucination" issue, referring to generation of ims that deviate from input text or contain n-existent elements.

Li said company's Ernie platform w handles 1.5 billion user queries and interactions daily, a significant increase from 200 million daily requests reported in May.

se interactions include tasks such as generating text, answering questions, and assisting with various applications utilising AI.

Baidu's commercialisation efforts have largely revolved around its AI nts, which allow users to create ir own applications.

company has also integrated techlogy into its existing product lineup and offering it to external users via its cloud services.

Baidu also unveiled a pair of glasses featuring a built-in AI assistant, developed by it hardware division, Xiaodu. gget is equipped with cameras to capture photos and videos and supports voice interactions powered by Ernie.

company is t aiming to create a "super app" based on AI, Li said, signalling a divergence in strategy from or companies such as ByteDance, which has launched multiple standalone AI apps this year.

Baidu also introduced Miaoda, which utilizes its LLM capabilities to generate code, allowing users to develop software applications without extensive coding expertise.