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Artificial intelligence
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Google’s ChatGPT rival Bard is still missing in Hong Kong after opening up to 180 countries and territories

  • Google ended most limitations on the use of its generative AI bot Bard on Wednesday, but Hong Kong did not make the cut of supported territories
  • Bard joins ChatGPT in locking out access in the city, although Google said more supported territories are ‘coming soon’

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Google announced that its ChatGPT rival Bard is opening to 180 countries and territories, but Hong Kong was not among them. Photo: Reuters
Xinmei Shen
Google has opened its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Bard to “over 180 countries and territories around the world”, but Hong Kong is not among them.
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Google said on Wednesday that it has removed the wait list for Bard, which was launched in March this year with limited access for users in the US and the UK. The tech giant has now nixed the wait list in most parts of the world, it announced at its I/O developer conference, with plans to integrate it into search after Microsoft made a similar move with ChatGPT.

Google did not publish a complete list of territories where Bard is available, but like ChatGPT, it cannot currently be used in Hong Kong. Attempts to access the service on Thursday were met with a message saying that “Bard isn’t currently supported in your country. Stay tuned!”

In a blog post about the expanded service on Wednesday, Google said more countries and territories are “coming soon”.

When asked about Bard’s absence in Hong Kong, Google did not address its plans for specific markets. “Bard is in its early days – and given how new the technology is, we want to roll it out thoughtfully and responsibly,” a Google spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, does not make its services available in Hong Kong, either. The company lists 163 markets where it is available. Many of the places not listed are either sanctioned or exhibit tight internet controls, including Russia, Iran, North Korea and China.

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However, both Bard and ChatGPT can be accessed through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), although OpenAI has taken extra steps such as blocking some VPN connections and requiring a phone number to create an account.

As in mainland China, some people in Hong Kong have been using third-party services with access to OpenAI’s application programming interface (API). As a result, generative AI tools have proven popular in the city.
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