According to Baidu, Ernie is a large AI-powered language model introduced in 2019. (Source: Getty Images)
On March 16, Chinese technology giant Baidu released a new artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of reasoning and offered its AI chatbot service for free amid fierce competition in the industry.
In an announcement on social media WeChat, Baidu said the X1 inference AI model has comparable performance to DeepSeek's AI model but at a lower cost. This model, along with a new platform model called Ernie 4.5, is now available on its AI chatbot Ernie Bot.
Baidu is making the models available for free, two weeks earlier than expected. Previously, users had to pay a monthly subscription fee to access the company’s latest AI models. The company plans to open source the Ernie AI models starting June 30.
Beijing-based Baidu was one of the first Chinese companies to announce the launch of a generative AI platform by 2023. However, chatbots from rival companies such as TikTok owner ByteDance and Moonshot AI have attracted more users.
Baidu, along with other tech companies in China, has faced fierce competition since January when startup DeepSeek announced an AI model that performed on par with the US-made ChatGPT model, but at a much lower cost.
According to analysts, DeepSeek's open-source and low-price strategy is forcing China's leading AI companies to cut prices to compete./.
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