Baidu is poised to launch a new version of its language model at its annual flagship technology conference on October 17, as reported by local tech outlet China Star Market. The 4.0 version is deemed “a significant upgrade” from the latest foundational AI model ERNIE 3.5, which the company claimed outperformed ChatGPT in certain key areas upon its release in June. The firm’s ChatGPT-like chatbot, ERNIE Bot, is powered by its self-developed model ERNIE, which was fully opened to the public in August. A source informed the outlet that the model’s four core abilities – understanding, generation, logic, and memory – would be further enhanced in the upcoming iteration. [China Star Market, in Chinese]