By Bingyan Wang

Chinese artificial-intelligence-related shares fell sharply Thursday, after a state-media outlet published a commentary on the risks associated with ChatGPT-concept stocks.

Hong-Kong listed Baidu Inc. dropped as much as 8.5% and was recently 5.8% lower at 148.30 Hong Kong dollars (US$18.89). The stock has risen 33% so far this year after the company this week confirmed that it is internally testing an AI chatbot, called Ernie Bot. Baidu said it expects to launch the product to the public in March.

Cloudwalk Technology Co. and Beijing Haitian Ruisheng Science Technology Ltd. in Shanghai fell as much as 14% and 13%, respectively, after the Securities Times newspaper warned of overheating ChatGPT-related stocks and the risks of chasing the concept hype in a front-page editorial. ?

The article said that "some market capitals are keen on false concept speculation, luring investors to chase the market, and finally end up with losing. Investors must not follow the trend."

Thursday's commentary by the state media came after several Chinese AI-related stocks skyrocketed, as investors bet on these companies to benefit from the technology and its commercialization.

Shares of Cloudwalk, a face-recognition system developer, have doubled this year, while those of AI-related data provider Beijing Haitian Ruisheng have tripled over the same period.

Both companies have received a supervision letter from the Shanghai Stock Exchange and are required to respond with regard to their disclosure obligations.

Beijing Haitian Ruisheng said in a Thursday filing that it is a data provider to AI companies and doesn't engage in AI algorithm and application development.

In a sign of how competitive the global AI race has become, Google's Bard AI chatbot offered a wrong answer in an advertisement designed to show off the new tech, sending shares in parent company Alphabet Inc. 7.7% lower Wednesday.

Write to Bingyan Wang at bingyan.wang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-09-23 0124ET