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TAKEAWAYS KEY
- Chinese tech giant Baidu said it has launched two artificial intelligence models, including the ERNIE X1, which it claims delivers the same performance as DeepSeek R1 “at only half the price.”
- DeepSeek’s open-source AI model, built at a fraction the cost of its Western competitors, threw the markets into chaos earlier this year.
- The ERNIE X1 deep-thinking reasoning model, as well as Baidu's ERNIE 4.5 native multimodal foundation model, are free for individual users, the Chinese tech firm said.
Chinese tech giant Baidu has announced the launch of two artificial intelligence models, including ERNIE X1, that it claims delivers the performance of DeepSeek R1 at “only half the price.”
Baidu said in a statement Sunday that it had released ERNIE 4.5—its native multimodal foundation model—and ERNIE X1, the “deep-thinking reasoning model with multimodal capabilities” that the company says rivals DeepSeek’s super-efficient open-source AI model. The Chinese company said that both models are free to individual users of the chatbot.
ERNIE X1, Baidu said, "possesses enhanced capabilities in understanding, planning, reflection, and evolution." Baidu claims that the deep-thinking model excels in areas such as dialogue, logical reason and complex calculations.
DeepSeek, a Chinese startup, shook the markets earlier this year with its open-source AI model. It performed as well as OpenAI ChatGPT but was built at a fraction the cost and using less advanced chips.
Baidu's U.S.-listed shares are up around 1% in premarket trading Monday and have lost almost 10% of their value in the 12 months through Friday.
