Baidu drops paywall on it AI mannequin Ernie Bot in bid to compete with DeepSeek – Firstpost

Baidu simply made a daring transfer in China’s red-hot AI race. The search big on Sunday (March 16) introduced the discharge of its newest AI reasoning mannequin, X1, together with an improve to its foundational mannequin, Ernie 4.5.

However the greatest headline? It’s making its AI chatbot, Ernie Bot, free to make use of– two weeks forward of schedule.

The choice comes as Baidu fights to remain aggressive in China’s quickly evolving AI scene, the place startups like DeepSeek have shaken up the trade with open-source fashions which can be extremely environment friendly and cost-effective. DeepSeek’s shock debut in January despatched ripples by the sector, forcing legacy gamers to rethink their methods.

Baidu’s X1 mannequin is designed to go toe-to-toe with DeepSeek’s providing however at a decrease value, the corporate claimed in a WeChat put up. Beforehand, customers needed to pay a month-to-month subscription to entry Baidu’s most superior AI fashions. Now, anybody can use them without spending a dime, a transparent signal that Baidu is shifting gears to draw extra customers in a market dominated by fierce competitors from ByteDance, Moonshot AI, and Tencent.

AI Wars Warmth Up in China

Baidu was among the many first Chinese language tech giants to roll out generative AI to the general public in 2023, however staying forward has confirmed tough. DeepSeek’s open-source mannequin has been extensively adopted by companies and authorities businesses, whereas different tech corporations have scrambled to maintain up.

Even Baidu itself built-in DeepSeek’s R1 mannequin into its search engine. And it’s not the one one leveraging the upstart’s tech. Tencent rolled out an AI mannequin in February that it claimed might generate responses quicker than DeepSeek, whereas nonetheless incorporating DeepSeek’s expertise into WeChat.

Alibaba, in the meantime, is doubling down on AI investments. The e-commerce big introduced a staggering 380 billion yuan ($52 billion) dedication to AI over the subsequent three years and not too long ago rolled out a brand new model of its AI assistant powered by its Qwen reasoning mannequin. It’s additionally working with Apple to develop AI for iPhones in China.

The Open-Supply Play

Baidu isn’t stopping at free entry—it’s additionally planning to comply with DeepSeek’s lead by open-sourcing its Ernie AI fashions beginning June 30. That transfer might be a game-changer, giving builders extra flexibility to construct on Baidu’s tech and doubtlessly increasing its affect in China’s AI ecosystem.

For now, Baidu’s free AI push indicators an aggressive technique to retain customers and fend off a rising listing of rivals. However as China’s AI battle intensifies, it stays to be seen whether or not making AI extra accessible will probably be sufficient to safe its lead.

With inputs from AFP