Chinese tech giant Baidu (9888.HK) announced on Thursday that its AI chatbot, Ernie Bot, will be available for free starting April 1, thanks to improved technology and lower operational costs. The AI service will be accessible on both desktop and mobile platforms, the company said in a WeChat post.
Baidu has faced increasing competition in China’s AI sector, particularly from DeepSeek, which offers free AI chatbot services at lower costs while claiming performance comparable to OpenAI’s advanced systems.
Despite being an early AI adopter after ChatGPT’s 2022 launch, Baidu has struggled to gain mass adoption for its Ernie large language model. However, the company asserts that its latest Ernie 4.0 model matches GPT-4 in capability.
Baidu has lagged behind domestic rivals like ByteDance’s Doubao chatbot and DeepSeek in user adoption, according to AI product tracker Aicpb.com. In late 2023, Baidu introduced premium AI-powered search engine features, charging 59.9 yuan ($8.18) per month.
Additionally, Baidu announced an advanced search function, also available for free from April 1, promising enhanced reasoning and expert-level responses through improved tool integration.
