Baidu Ready To Launch Ernie 4.5 AI Model In March, Claims For More Sophisticated Ability

Ernie 4.5 is claimed to be Baidu's best AI model (photo: x @Baidu_Inc)

JAKARTA Chinese tech giant Baidu is rumored to be launching the latest generation of their artificial intelligence (AI) model, Ernie 4.5, in mid-March. This latest model will bring a significant increase in reasoning and multimodal capabilities, according to sources with direct access to the information.

Multimodal technology allows AI to process and integrate various types of data, including text, video, images, and audio, as well as convert them between these formats.

Previously, Baidu had announced that they would release the Ernie 4.5 series in stages in the coming months and make it open-source from June 30, 2025. However, the company has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding this latest launch.

The launch of the AI model from China's startup DeepSek, which is claimed to be able to rival even beyond the leading AI model in the United States at lower costs, has rocked the global AI industry. DeepSek's success forced large companies, including Baidu, to adjust their strategy to remain competitive.

Baidu is one of the first technology companies in China to launch an AI-based chatbot similar to ChatGPT. However, although they claim that Ernie's big language model (LLM) has the equivalent of OpenAI's GPT-4, adoption is still limited due to increasingly fierce competition.

The emergence of DeepSek has increasingly challenged Baidu's ambitions in the AI sector. Baidu CEO Robin Li previously argued that keeping the AI model closed was the best strategy for long-term development. However, after seeing DeepSek's success, Baidu finally turned to an open-source approach.

Dalam panggilan pendapatan bulan ini, Li menyebut Ernie 4.5 sebagai model terbaik yang pernah dibuat Baidu dan mengakui bahwa kesuksesan DeepSeek telah mendorong perubahan strategi tersebut.

Apart from Baidu, another Chinese tech giant, Alibaba, also announced that they will make the AI model a generative for video and images, Wan 2.1, open-source. This move further tightens competition in China's AI industry, which is now increasingly focused on transparency and open innovation in order to attract more developers and companies to adopt their technology.

With Baidu's move to release Ernie 4.5 and competition from Alibaba and DeepSeek, China's AI industry seems to be increasingly dynamic and competitive, trying to compete with the dominance of Western AI models such as OpenAI and Google DeepMind.