Baidu Launches Two New AI Models Amid Heaty Industrial Competition

Baidu announced the launch of the two latest artificial intelligence (AI) models. (photo: x @MartijnRasser ·)

JAKARTA Chinese tech giant Baidu announced on Sunday March 16 the launch of two new artificial intelligence (AI) models. This includes a model focused on reasoning that is claimed to be able to rival DeepSek's model. This step signifies Baidu's efforts to strengthen his position in the tight competition of the AI industry.

China's AI startup DeepSek recently launched an AI model that is claimed to have an equivalent or even better performance than the leading model in the United States, at a much lower cost. DeepSek's success rocked the industry and again ignited global competition in AI development.

Baidu said that one of his newest models, ERNIE X1, has a performance equivalent to DeepSek R1, but only half of the production costs.

"ERNIE X1 has a stronger understanding, planning, reflection, and evolutionary capabilities," Baidu said in a statement. "This model is also the first deep-thinking model to be able to use various tools independently."

In addition, Baidu also released ERNIE 4.5, the latest foundation model that is claimed to have extraordinary multimodal understanding capabilities.

"ERNIE 4.5 has more sophisticated language skills, with a comprehensive increase in understanding, content creation, logic, and memory," said Baidu.

Baidu also claims that this model has "high EQ", making it easier to understand internet memes and satirical cartoons.

Competitive AI Market

As one of the first tech giants in China to launch a ChatGPT-like chatbot, Baidu faces a tough challenge in gaining widespread adoption for its big language model, Ernie, although the company claims that its performance is equivalent to OpenAI's GPT-4.

Multimodal AI, as Baidu developed, is capable of processing and integrating various types of data including text, video, images, and audio, as well as changing content among these formats. With the launch of this latest model, Baidu hopes to strengthen his position in the global AI revolution.