From CNBC: 2025-02-11 23:30:14

China’s Baidu set to release Ernie 5.0 AI model with enhanced multimodal capabilities. The update comes amidst competition with U.S.-based companies like OpenAI. Baidu CEO Robin Li touts reduced inference cost and increased productivity. Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance also in the AI race. Baidu’s Ernie model integrates generative AI across consumer and business products.

Baidu’s Ernie model already supports generative AI integration in consumer and business products. Baidu’s Wenku platform sees 40 million paying users, up 60% from 2023. Ernie 4.0 released in 2023 with upgraded “turbo” version in 2024. Baidu has not officially announced plans for next generation update. OpenAI releases GPT-4o in May 2024.

Baidu was first to roll out chatbot Ernie in 2023. Ernie has been overshadowed by newer Chinese AI chatbots. Alibaba shares up 33%, Baidu up 6%, Tencent up 4%. Ernie supports cloud storage and content creation. Baidu plans to release next generation AI model.

Read more: Chinese tech giant Baidu to release next-generation AI model this year