Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc. announced on Monday that it’s coming up with powerful generative artificial intelligence open-source chatbot Ernie. Baidu’s Ernie chatbot could be its biggest in the AI race. The plan for open source though would be gradual.
As per Lian Jye Su, chief analyst with technology research and advisory group Omdia, “Baidu has always been very supportive of its proprietary business model and was vocal against open-source, but disruptors like DeepSeek have proven that open-source models can be as competitive and reliable as proprietary ones.”
Baidu open source Ernie launch
Baidu’s decision to open source is important from the perspective of global AI race.
Baidu often referred to as “China’s Google” confirmed it will gradually roll out the open-source version of Ernie starting today.
Analysts say Baidu is going heads on against competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic PBC, making a commodity of high-performance AI to undermine their expensive licensing fees. It marks a dramatic change of policy for Baidu, which has previously been a staunch supporter of proprietary, closed systems.
Many industry experts view an open source Ernie as potentially being even more disruptive to both U.S. and Chinese competitors when it comes to the price equation.
Baidu AI Ernie drop was expected
Just recently in March, Baidu said that its ERNIE X1 model delivers performance on par with DeepSeek’s R1 “at only half the price.”
Earlier this year, Baidu’s CEO, Robin Li, hinted that the roll-out would help developers worldwide in AI development. He said, “Our releases aim to empower developers to build the best applications — without having to worry about model capability, costs, or development tools”.
Baidu’s business strategy
Baidu hopes to achieve widespread adoption of its technology by making the code of its flagship large language model available to everyone.
Baidu has rapidly escalated its shift to open-source tech this year, making a series of aggressive moves aimed at undercutting its rivals’ pricing. In February, it announced it’s making Ernie available for free, dropping a monthly subscription model in order to grab more users.
Some countries have banned DeepSeek due to concerns about consumers downloading the technology. Also, DeepSeek is facing delay in release of its next-generation R2 model. This is as the company is struggling to obtain enough of Nvidia Corp.’s high-end graphics processing units to finish training R2, as a result of fresh U.S. sanctions on chip exports to China.
Increasing pressure on U.S. AI firms
Baidu’s move will likely increase the pressure on U.S. AI firms, even if it still struggles with low brand recognition outside its home nation. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman acknowledged the threat posed to his company in January.
By going down the open-source route, Baidu may also be able to sidestep U.S. sanctions on China, as it will be able to leverage the expertise of AI contributors from all over the world.
The U.S. has previously raised concerns that Chinese firms might attempt such a strategy, and some lawmakers have even labeled open-source AI models a “security risk.”
