Baidu, the Chinese search engine giant, is changing its strategy significantly. It is opening up its next-generation Artificial Intelligence model, Ernie, from June 30. This move marks a departure from CEO Robin Li’s previous advocacy for closed-source models. He believed those were the only viable path for AI development.
The strategy shift is mainly due to the rise of DeepSeek. This startup offers open-source AI services that are comparable to OpenAI’s advanced systems. These services come at a lower operational cost. To stay competitive, Baidu is opening up Ernie. It is also making its AI chatbot, Ernie Bot, free starting April 1.
Currently, Ernie Bot lags behind ByteDance’s Doubao chatbot, which has 78.6 million active monthly users, and DeepSeek, which has 33.7 million users. Ernie Bot has 13 million active monthly users, according to January data from AI product tracker.
Baidu’s decision to open-source Ernie is expected to accelerate AI adoption. This will allow more developers to access the technology. They can also contribute to it. As Li stated, “If you open things up, a lot of people will be curious enough to try it. This will help spread the technology much faster” ¹.
Baidu plans to launch a new next-generation model called Ernie 5. This will happen in the second half of 2025. This is in addition to opening up Ernie. This move shows Baidu’s commitment to staying at the forefront of AI development. Baidu is also competing with other major players in the industry.
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