BEIJING (Reuters) – Baidu, the leading Chinese search engine, announced on Thursday its decision to offer its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie Bot for free starting April 1. The company mentioned advancements in technology and reduced costs as the reasons behind this move. According to a post on WeChat, the AI service will now be accessible to all users on both desktop and mobile platforms at no charge.
Facing increasing competition in China’s AI sector, Baidu finds itself up against DeepSeek, a rival company that provides free AI chatbot services. DeepSeek claims that its services perform at a level comparable to the advanced systems of U.S.-based OpenAI but at a lower operational cost.
Baidu was one of the first companies in China to venture into the field of AI following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. However, the adoption rate of its Ernie large language model has been slower than expected. The company asserts that its latest iteration, Ernie 4.0, offers capabilities on par with OpenAI’s GPT-4.
Despite its efforts, Baidu’s AI products have been overshadowed by those of its domestic competitors, such as ByteDance’s Doubao chatbot and the emerging player DeepSeek, as indicated by data from AI product tracker Aicpb.com.
In a bid to further enhance its offerings, Baidu introduced premium features to its search engine in late 2023. These features leverage the capabilities of advanced models like Ernie 4.0 and are available for a monthly subscription fee of 59.9 yuan ($8.18). Additionally, the company revealed the launch of an advanced search function, which will also be offered for free starting April 1. This feature is designed to provide enhanced reasoning capabilities and seamless integration of tools to deliver expert-level responses, as stated by Baidu.
(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher Cushing)
