Baidu ($BIDU@China) announced that it would be launching an AI chatbot styled after ChatGPT. “Ernie bot,” which stands for “Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration,” will launch in March after it completes internal testing. Baidu’s shares rose 13 percent in premarket trading following its announcement. The stock rose to $159.80 Hong Kong dollars per share, or 13.48 percent higher in Asia’s morning trade. Baidu’s announcement comes on the heels of Microsoft-backed ChatGPT's sudden rise in popularity. Google ($GOOGL@US) recently announced that it would launch its version of ChatGPT, known as Bard AI.