Baidu to Launch Upgraded AI Model Ernie 4.5 in Mid-March, Shifting to Open-Source Strategy

China's Baidu Said to Launch Upgraded AI Ernie Model in Mid-March

Baidu is China's earliest tech giants to launch a ChatGPT-style chatbot China's Baidu will launch the next generation of its artificial intelligence model Ernie in mid-March, which will see improved capabilities in areas such as reasoning, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. The upgraded 4.5 Ernie model will also feature enhanced multimodal capabilities, the source said. Multimodal AI systems are capable of processing and integrating various types of data - like text, video, images, and audio - and can convert content across these formats. Baidu had said earlier this month it would gradually launch the Ernie 4.5 series in the coming months and officially make it open source from June 30. Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's roll-out of AI models which it says is on par with, or even better than, industry-leading models in the United States at a fraction of the cost, have roiled the industry and re-energised the global AI race. Baidu, one of China's earliest tech giants to launch a ChatGPT-style chatbot, has struggled to gain widespread adoption for its Ernie large language model, despite claiming performance comparable to OpenAI's GPT-4, amid fierce competition. The emergence of DeepSeek has further challenged the Beijing-based company's AI aspirations. Baidu CEO Robin Li had previously said that keeping AI models closed-source was the only way forward for development in the sector, but has since pivoted after DeepSeek's success. Li told analysts during an earnings call this month that Ernie 4.5 will be the company's "best model ever,", acknowledging that DeepSeek's success had prompted the shift towards an open-source approach. Earlier this week, Alibaba also announced it would make its video- and image-generating AI model, Wan 2.1, open source, further increasing competition in the sector. © Thomson Reuters 2025

China's Baidu to launch upgraded AI Ernie model in mid-March, source says

BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China's Baidu (9888.HK), opens new tab will launch the next generation of its artificial intelligence model Ernie in mid-March, which will see improved capabilities in areas such as reasoning, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. The upgraded 4.5 Ernie model will also feature enhanced multimodal capabilities, the source said, an Multimodal AI systems are capable of processing and integrating various types of data - like text, video, images, and audio - and can convert content across these formats. Baidu had said earlier this month it would gradually launch the Ernie 4.5 series in the coming months and officially make it open source from June 30. Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's roll-out of AI models which it says is on par with, or even better than, industry-leading models in the United States at a fraction of the cost, have roiled the industry and re-energised the global AI race. Baidu, one of China's earliest tech giants to launch a ChatGPT-style chatbot, has struggled to gain widespread adoption for its Ernie large language model, despite claiming performance comparable to OpenAI's GPT-4, amid fierce competition. The emergence of DeepSeek has further challenged the Beijing-based company's AI aspirations. Baidu CEO Robin Li had previously said that keeping AI models closed-source was the only way forward for development in the sector, but has since pivoted after DeepSeek's success. Li told analysts during an earnings call this month that Ernie 4.5 will be the company's "best model ever,", acknowledging that DeepSeek's success had prompted the shift towards an open-source approach. Earlier this week, Alibaba also announced it would make its video- and image-generating AI model, Wan 2.1, open source, further increasing competition in the sector. Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Rachna Uppal Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Disrupted

Baidu to launch updated Ernie AI model by mid-March - Reuters By Investing.com

Investing.com-- Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) is expected to launch an updated version of its Ernie artificial intelligence model by mid-March, as the Chinese internet giant looks to further its push into the sector, Reuters reported on Thursday. The upgraded Ernie 4.5 model will feature improved capabilities for reasoning and multimodal support, the Reuters report said, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The Reuters report comes just weeks after Baidu signaled that it will make the next generation of its Ernie model open-source later this year. Baidu also outlined plans to make its AI chatbot Ernie Bot free from April 1, with the new model likely to be launched in the run-up to this shift. The Chinese internet giant has rushed to capitalize on increasing interest in China's AI capabilities after the launch of DeepSeek R1 in late-January. Baidu's shift to a free, open-source model also likely represents a bid to increase its market share, given that the company has largely lagged its Chinese peers in garnering AI users, despite beginning investment in the sector as early as 2022. Baidu claims that the current 4.0 model of its Ernie AI matches the performance of rivals such as OpenAI's GPT-4. The company has about 13 million monthly active users for its Ernie bot, compared to 78.6 million for ByteDance's Duobao, which is the most popular AI application in China, according to January data from AI tracker Aicpb.com. Recent entrant DeepSeek has already outpaced Baidu in adoption, with its models boasting 33.7 million monthly active users just a month since their launch.