Chinese search giant Baidu has integrated plugin functions into ERNIE Bot, an artificial intelligence system akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. At present, only two plugins, Baidu Search and ChatFile, have been added to the company’s big model ERNIE 3.5, as revealed by the company’s CTO, Wang Haifeng. Baidu completed the update on June 21. The Baidu Search plugin, linked directly to Baidu’s namesake search engine, allows for real-time information generation. On the other hand, the ChatFile plugin can retrieve and summarize data from uploaded files up to 100 pages long. Baidu’s commitment to expanding its plugin offerings includes inviting third-party developers to create their own plugins for the ERNIE Bot. While the availability of the chatbot service to the wider public is still unconfirmed, users with invitation codes can already test these two plugins. [Baidu]