Chinese Internet search giant Baidu Inc (百度) yesterday released a new artificial intelligence (AI) reasoning model and made its AI chatbot services free to consumers as ferocious competition grips the sector.
Technology companies in China have been scrambling to release improved AI platforms since start-up DeepSeek (深度求索) shocked its rivals with its open source and highly cost-efficient model in January.
In a post on WeChat, Baidu announced the launch of its latest X1 reasoning model — which the company claims performs similarly to DeepSeek’s but for lower cost — and a new foundation model, Ernie 4.5.
Photo: AFP
Baidu also made its AI chatbot Ernie Bot free for individual users more than two weeks ahead of schedule. Previously, users had to pay a subscription to access the company’s latest AI models via Ernie Bot.
Ernie 4.5 “outperforms” US-based OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 model in “multiple benchmarks,” while Ernie X1 features “enhanced capabilities in understanding, planning, reflection and evolution,” Baidu said.
The Beijing-based company was one of China’s first to roll out a generative AI platform publicly, in 2023, but rival chatbots from companies such as TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動) and Moonshot AI Technology Co (月之暗面) have since gained more users.
Baidu faces stiff competition in the consumer-facing AI sector where DeepSeek shook up the industry at home and abroad with a model that performed comparably to competitors such as US-made ChatGPT, but cost much less to develop.
Last month, WeChat owner Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) released a new AI model that it claimed answers queries faster than DeepSeek, even as it incorporated its rival’s technology into its messaging platform.
The same month, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), which has partnered with Apple Inc to develop AI for the US company’s phones in China, said it would invest 380 billion yuan (US$52.5 billion) in AI and cloud computing over the next three years.
Alibaba this month also released a new version of its AI assistant app powered by its open-source Qwen reasoning model.
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