Baidu, one of China’s leading tech giants, plans to release the next generation of its artificial intelligence model later this year. The update, called Ernie 5.0, is set to have significant enhancements in multimodal capabilities, according to a source familiar with the matter. The planned release comes as Chinese companies race to develop innovative AI models to compete with OpenAI and other U.S.-based companies.
Baidu was the first major Chinese tech company to roll out a ChatGPT-like chatbot called Ernie in March 2023. However, despite initial momentum, the product has since been eclipsed by other Chinese AI chatbots from large tech companies such as Alibaba and ByteDance, as well as emerging startups. In late January, Hangzhou-based startup DeepSeek prompted a global tech stock sell-off with the release of its open-source AI model.
The model impressed users with its reasoning capabilities and claims of drastically undercutting OpenAI’s ChatGPT on cost. Baidu CEO Robin Li, speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, said, “We are living in an exciting time … The inference cost [of foundation models] can be reduced by more than 90% over 12 months.
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If you can reduce the cost by a certain percentage, then that means your productivity increases by that kind of percentage. I think that’s pretty much the nature of innovation.”
Baidu’s Ernie model already supports the integration of generative AI across a range of the company’s consumer and business-facing products, including cloud storage and content creation.
Last month, Baidu said its Wenku platform for creating presentations and other documents had reached 40 million paying users as of the end of 2024. In a separate development, Baidu has taken the unprecedented step of declaring its Ernie AI chatbot free for all individual users starting April. This move threatens to intensify a pricing war that major domestic players from Alibaba to ByteDance have waged since AI development quickened.
Baidu has notified users that the company will start returning monthly subscription fees paid for more advanced versions of Ernie, which cost $8 per month. However, the company will still charge fees for enterprise clients accessing its AI through the company’s cloud services. Market analysts are closely watching Baidu’s developments, as advances in AI technology could significantly impact various industries and set new standards for innovation.
The details of the upcoming Ernie 5.0 model, including specific features and launch date, are still under wraps.
Rashan is a seasoned technology journalist and visionary leader serving as the Editor-in-Chief of DevX.com, a leading online publication focused on software development, programming languages, and emerging technologies. With his deep expertise in the tech industry and her passion for empowering developers, Rashan has transformed DevX.com into a vibrant hub of knowledge and innovation. Reach out to Rashan at [email protected]
