Chinese search engine Baidu has launched two new AI models — Ernie 4.5, the latest version of the company’s foundational model first released two years ago — and a new reasoning model, Ernie X1.

Chinese internet search giant Baidu released a new artificial intelligence reasoning model Sunday and made its AI chatbot services free as ferocious competition grips the sector.Technology companies in China have been scrambling to release improved AI platforms since start-up DeepSeek shocked its rivals with its open source and highly cost-efficient model in January.

US shares of the Chinese tech giant Baidu gained after the company revealed its Ernie X1 model, said to be as capable and more cost efficient than DeepSeek.