Chinese tech giant Baidu is planning to launch the next generation of its artificial intelligence (AI) model, Ernie 5.0, in the latter half of this year. This release comes amid increasing competition in China's AI sector, particularly from emerging companies like DeepSeek. The new model is expected to feature significant improvements in its multimodal capabilities, enabling it to process and convert between various formats, including text, video, images, and audio. Baidu's CEO, Robin Li, has acknowledged the unpredictable nature of innovation, citing DeepSeek's rise as an example. Despite being an early mover in AI in China, Baidu has faced challenges in gaining widespread adoption for its Ernie large language model. The company claims that its latest version, Ernie 4, matches the capabilities of OpenAI's GPT-4.

The upcoming Ernie 5.0 is described as a "foundation model" with the ability to understand language and perform diverse tasks such as text and image generation, and natural language conversations. Baidu was among the first companies in China to receive government approval for its AI models. In August 2023, Baidu announced that its Ernie Bot would be available to the public. The company also planned to release new applications for users to experience generative AI. These approvals marked a significant milestone for China's AI industry, bringing ChatGPT-style services to a large number of internet users. China has designated AI as a tech priority and is seeking private sector help to support its economy.

Baidu's Ernie model already supports the integration of generative AI across various consumer and business applications, including cloud storage and content generation. Recently, Baidu announced that its Wenku platform, which focuses on creating presentations and other documents, had reached 40 million paying users by the end of 2024, a 60% increase from the end of 2023. New features, such as AI-generated presentations based on financial reports, were introduced to users in January. The current version of the Ernie model is 4, with an enhanced "turbo" variant, Ernie 4.0, introduced in August 20242. Baidu has not officially confirmed the release of the next-generation model.

Baidu's shares have experienced a more modest increase compared to some of its competitors. While Alibaba's stock has surged, Baidu's shares have risen only marginally. Baidu's Ernie Bot has faced competition from other Chinese tech giants like ByteDance and Alibaba. DeepSeek has also emerged as a strong competitor. Baidu CEO Robin Li stated that the inference costs associated with foundation models could potentially be lowered significantly within a year. He also noted that reducing costs could lead to increased productivity, which he sees as the essence of innovation. There are no specific details available yet regarding the exact features and upgrades that will be included in Ernie 5.0.