Chinese internet search giant Baidu has launched a new artificial intelligence model, AFP reports. Baidu has made its artificial intelligence chatbot services available to users for free.

Tech companies in China are looking to launch improved artificial intelligence platforms after startup DeepSeek shocked rivals in January with its open-source and highly cost-effective model.

In a WeChat post, Baidu announced the launch of its latest reasoning model - the X1, which the company claims works similarly to DeepSeek's but at a lower price - and a new Ernie 4.5-based model.

Baidu also made its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie Bot free to individual users more than two weeks earlier than planned. Previously, users had to pay a subscription to access the company's latest AI models through Ernie Bot.

The Ernie 4.5 "outperformed" US-based OpenAI's GPT-4.5 model in "numerous benchmark tests", while the Ernie X1 featured "enhanced comprehension, planning, reflection and development capabilities", Baidu said.

The Beijing-based company was one of the first in China to publicly launch a generative AI platform in 2023, but since then rival chatbots from companies such as ByteDance, owner of TikTok, and Moonshot AI have gained more users.

Baidu faces stiff competition in the consumer-facing AI sector, where DeepSeek has shaken up the industry at home and abroad with a model that performs relatively well to rivals such as US-based ChatGPT, but whose development costs much less.

Since then, Chinese companies and local government agencies have rushed to incorporate DeepSeek's open-source model into their work, while other tech companies are trying to catch up.

Baidu itself has integrated DeepSeek's R1 reasoning model into its search engine.

In February, WeChat owner Tencent launched a new artificial intelligence model that it claims answers queries faster than DeepSeek, even as it incorporated its competitor's technology into its messaging platform.

In the same month, Alibaba, which has partnered with Apple to develop artificial intelligence for the U.S. company's phones in China, said it would invest 380 billion yuan ($52 billion) in artificial intelligence and cloud computing over the next three years.

This month, Alibaba also launched a new version of its artificial intelligence assistant app, powered by its open-source reasoning model Qwen.

Baidu also announced that it plans to follow DeepSeek's lead by making its Ernie AI models open source by June 30. | BGNES