Baidu Launches New Reasoning AI Model in Challenge to DeepSeek

Chinese tech giant Baidu BIDU -0.47%decrease; red down pointing triangle released a new artificial intelligence model, which it claims rivals DeepSeek’s AI model across various benchmarks at a lower cost.

Baidu introduced Ernie X1, a reasoning model that can support tools such as advanced search, generation of AI images, and webpage reading, in a statement Sunday. It said the model’s performance is on par with DeepSeek’s open-source AI model, dubbed R1, but at only half the price.