Baidu launches two new versions of its AI model Ernie

Chinese search engine Baidu has launched two new AI models — Ernie 4.5, the latest version of the company’s foundational model first released two years ago, as well as a new reasoning model, Ernie X1.

According to Reuters, Baidu claims that Ernie X1’s performance is “on par with DeepSeek R1 at only half the price,”, and it touts Ernie 4.5’s “high EQ,” allowing the model to understand memes and satire. Both models have multimodal capabilities, allowing them to process video, images, and audio, as well as text.

While Baidu was one of the first Chinese companies to launch a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it has reportedly struggled to find widespread adoption. Meanwhile, the aforementioned DeepSeek recently unsettled American AI companies and investors by releasing models that were seemingly just as powerful at a much lower cost.

CNBC previously reported that Baidu plans to release its next generation model, Ernie 5, later this year, with further multimodal improvements.