Baidu Inc. BIDUthe Chinese search engine giant, has filed a lawsuit apple inc AAPL and app developers via fake “Ernie Bot” apps.

What happened: Baidu has taken legal action against Apple and “relevant” app developers for distributing fake versions of its Ernie Bot app on the App Store, Reuters reported.

The company has filed lawsuits against Apple and the creators of the fraudulent versions in Beijing’s Haidian People’s Court.

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“Currently, Ernie does not have an official app,” Baidu said in a statement. The company, also known as China’s Google, released a photo of its court filing.

“Until our company officially announces it, every Ernie app you see on the App Store or other stores is fake,” it said.

Apple didn’t respond immediately gasoline gas Request for comments.

Why it matters: Baidu’s Ernie Bot did hailed as China’s closest equivalent To OpenAI‘s AI-powered chatbot called chatGPT, the report said.

Last month, Baidu canceled it without further ado highly anticipated public launch by Ernie Bot and instead held a private, closed-door meeting with the first companies testing the product.

Baidu’s CEO, Robin Li, revealed Ernie Bot on March 16.

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Continue reading: As Google’s Microsoft battle over AI heats up, China’s response is ‘Ernie Bot’