HONG KONG -- In February, shortly after OpenAI's ChatGPT took the tech world by storm, a series of posts by high-profile Chinese entrepreneur Wang Huiwen went viral on social media.

Chinese companies are pumping money into artificial intelligence, hoping tools such as Baidu's Ernie Bot can rival the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Source photos by AP)
Money is no object as investors big and small rush into chatbot technology