After DeepSeek, ChatGPT has another free Chinese chatbot to worry about

Chinese search engine Baidu is one of the biggest search engines in the game today, and just like Bing and Google, it also has its own AI chatbot called Ernie. However, with the AI chatbot space in its current disrupted state, every chatbot is doing something to stand out. Ernie has a trick up its sleeve too, and the trick is free service starting later this year.

That’s right. Baidu’s Ernie bot is going free later this year, on April 1 to be precise. While we doubt that’s an elaborate April Fools prank on Baidu’s part, the move does tell us a lot about what’s happening in the AI chatbot space this year. Let’s dive deeper.

What is Baidu’s Ernie chatbot?

As the name suggests, Ernie is an AI chatbot built by Baidu. After Open AI’s ChatGPT rose to fame in 2022, Baidu was one of the first companies to also dive into the world of Large Language Models to develop its own chatbot. A few years later, Baidu’s Ernie 4.0 model is on par with the GPT 4 model, or that’s what Baidu says.

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Somewhere in late 2023 though, Baidu also introduced premium features to Ernie, charging interested users a sum of CNY 59.9 (about Rs 710) every month. This is the exact cost the company is set to eliminate on April 1.

Why chatbots are suddenly switching up their game

After a recent disruption by another chatbot that has its origins in China called DeepSeek, the world of AI chatbots has been turned upside down. DeepSeek rose to fame (fairly quickly) when the free app climbed to the number one spot in the US App Store listings.

This was because what ChatGPT was offering users at a premium cost, DeepSeek was offering largely for free. Unlike OpenAI’s offering, DeepSeek also happens to be completely open source, offering other players like Microsoft’s Azure to take advantage of its code for their own solutions.

DeepSeek’s disruption forced ChatGPT to quickly restructure its payment models. As of today, the world’s favourite chatbot is planning on offering free users unlimited access to its upcoming model – GPT 5.0, a drastic change from what the business model has been so far.

ALSO READ: DeepSeek vs ChatGPT: Pitting the popular AI chatbots against each other

Baidu’s Ernie is just the latest player in the game. Offering all their functionality for free is the latest trend in the AI chatbot industry, as offering your product as a no-compromise alternative is what seems to bring in more users.

Currently, Ernie is available via Baidu’s website and as a download on the Play Store and App Store in select regions. You can check out the app yourself with its full functionality, when it goes free in a few months from now.