Baidu Makes AI Chatbot ERNIE Bot Free to Use

Amid stiff competition, Baidu is making its AI chatbot, ERNIE Bot, available to users at no cost, starting on April 1. The company cited reduced costs and tech improvements as reasons for making ERNIE Bot free across desktop and mobile.

Advanced Search Function to Follow

Moreover, Baidu plans to roll out an advanced search function on the same day, per Reuters. This will also be available for free and is said to include upgraded reasoning capability.

Premium Features Introduced in 2023

Baidu started offering premium features in its search engine in late 2023. Those were powered by advanced AI models such as ERNIE 4.0, which the company charged around $8 per month (59.9 yuan) for.

ERNIE Bot’s Struggles with Adoption

While Baidu was one of the first major Chinese companies to deploy its own AI chatbot, ERNIE has struggled to find widespread adoption. By contrast, domestic rivals such as the Doubao chatbot from ByteDance and upstart DeepSeek (which offers its AI assistant for free) have seen stronger user adoption, according to a third-party data tracker.