Chinese internet search giant Baidu will make its advanced AI chatbot services free, as competition heats up among global developers following the surging popularity of startup DeepSeek’s models.

Baidu, China’s largest internet search company, announced that it will offer its AI chatbot Ernie Bot for free starting April 1, as competition in the AI sector heats up. The AI service will be accessible at no cost to all users on both desktop and mobile platforms,

Chinese internet search giant Baidu will make its Ernie Bot service free to use from April 1, providing wider access to the company's own artificial intelligence (AI) models, as competition in this nascent field heats up with the rise of innovative newcomers like DeepSeek.