Baidu reportedly launched Wenxin Grand Model 4.5 in mid-March

Beijing (Reuters) - Chinese tech giant Baidu will reportedly launch Wenxin Grand Model 4.5 (Ernie) in mid-March, the latest generation of artificial intelligence (AI) models that will improve capabilities in areas such as reasoning.

Reuters quoted sources as saying that the multi-mode function of Wenxin Grand Model 4.5 will be enhanced. Multimodal AI systems can process and integrate various types of data, such as text, video, images, and audio, and convert content across formats.

Baidu said earlier this month that it will gradually roll out the Wenxin Grand Model 4.5 series in the coming months and officially open source code from June 30.

Baidu is one of the first technology giants to launch ChatGPt-style chatbots in China, releasing its large language model "Wenxin Yi" in 2023. The company claims that Wenxin Big Model 3.5 outperforms OpenAI's GPT and GPT-4 in many key areas, but it has struggled to gain widespread adoption of its big language model amid fierce competition.

The emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has further challenged Baidu's position in the AI field.

Baidu CEO Robin Li had previously said that keeping AI models closed source was the only way for the industry to grow, but his attitude changed after DeepSeek's success.

Li told analysts on Tuesday's earnings call that Wenxin Grand Model 4.5 would be the company's "best model ever," and he acknowledged that DeepSeek's success had prompted Baidu to shift its AI model to open source.