Baidu stock soars on new AI model to rival DeepSeek, ChatGPT
Baidu stock was up some 9% on Monday. Shares of Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) were soaring on Monday on the release of a new AI model that rivals the breakthrough DeepSeek AI model. Baidu, which is essentially the Google of China, holds the dominant search engine in China and has been a leader in AI technology for a long time.
Its new AI models for search and other functions were unveiled on Monday. One of the updates is ERNIE 4.5, a native multimodal foundation model, which is the latest, more advanced version of the ERNIE 4.0 AI model. The other is ERNIE X1, a deep-thinking reasoning model. Both ERNIE models are free to use and will be accessible through Baidu’s search websites and apps.
Baidu stock surged on Monday, up about 9.2% as of 2:15 p.m. ET, trading at over $102 per share. The new ERNIE X1 model is praised by Baidu for having deep-thinking reasoning on par with the DeepSeek model, but at half the development cost.
Advancements in AI Technology
The launch of ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1 marks a significant milestone in the development of multimodal and reasoning models, offering advanced capabilities at a more accessible price point. This underlines Baidu’s commitment to continued investment in smarter and more powerful next-generation foundation models.
ERNIE 4.5 demonstrates improvements in understanding, generation, reasoning, and memory. It also exhibits enhancements in hallucination prevention, logical reasoning, and coding abilities. The model can integrate and understand text, images, audio, and video content, showing intelligence and contextual awareness.
ERNIE X1, on the other hand, possesses enhanced capabilities in understanding, planning, reflection, and evolution. It is Baidu’s first multimodal deep-thinking reasoning model capable of tool use. The model excels in various areas such as Chinese knowledge Q&A, literary creation, dialogue, logical reasoning, and complex calculations.
Integration into Baidu's Ecosystem
The news from Baidu comes shortly after Google introduced Gemma 3, an AI model hailed as the most advanced yet, leading to a flat performance in Alphabet stock on Monday.
ERNIE 4.5 and X1 will be aggressively integrated into Baidu's product ecosystem, including Baidu Search and other offerings, providing users with enhanced AI-driven experiences.
Despite the advancements in AI technology by various companies, the continuous evolution of AI models like ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1 showcases the ongoing efforts to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence and provide more powerful and cost-effective solutions to users worldwide.
