Chinese search engine Baidu has launched two new AI fashions — Ernie 4.5, the most recent model of the corporate’s foundational mannequin first launched two years in the past, in addition to a brand new reasoning mannequin, Ernie X1.
According to Reuters, Baidu claims that Ernie X1’s efficiency is “on par with DeepSeek R1 at solely half the worth,”, and it touts Ernie 4.5’s “excessive EQ,” permitting the mannequin to know memes and satire. Both fashions have multimodal capabilities, permitting them to course of video, photographs, and audio, in addition to textual content.
While Baidu was one of many first Chinese firms to launch a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it has reportedly struggled to search out widespread adoption. Meanwhile, the aforementioned DeepSeek lately unsettled American AI firms and buyers by releasing fashions that had been seemingly simply as highly effective at a a lot decrease value.
CNBC beforehand reported that Baidu plans to launch its subsequent era mannequin, Ernie 5, later this yr, with additional multimodal enhancements.
