Chinese tech giant Baidu to release next-generation AI model this year as DeepSeek shakes up market
BEIJING — China's Baidu plans to release the next generation of its artificial intelligence model in the second half of this year, according to a source familiar with the matter, as newer players such as DeepSeek disrupt the segment.
Ernie 5.0, called a «foundation model,» is set to have «big enhancements in multimodal capabilities,» the source said, without specifying its functions. «Multimodal» AI can process texts, videos, images and audio to combine them as well as convert them across categories — text to video and vice-versa, for instance.
Foundation models can understand language and perform a wide array of tasks including generating text and images, and communicating in natural language.
Baidu's planned update comes as Chinese companies race to develop innovative AI models to compete with OpenAI and other U.S.-based companies. In late January, Hangzhou-based startup DeepSeek prompted a global tech stock sell-off with the release of its open-source AI model that impressed users with its reasoning capabilities and claims of undercutting OpenAI's ChatGPT drastically on cost.
«We are living in an exciting time… The inference cost [of foundation models] basically can be reduced by more than 90% over 12 months,» Baidu CEO Robin Li said at the World Governments Summit in Dubai this week. That's according to a press release of his fireside chat with Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE's minister of state for artificial intelligence, digital economy, and remote work applications.
«If you can reduce the cost by a certain percentage, then that means your productivity increases by that kind of percentage. I think that's pretty much the nature of innovation,» Li noted.
Baidu was the first major Chinese tech company to roll out a
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