Baidu has announced plans to open-source its upcoming Ernie 4.5 chatbot series, citing inspiration from the success of AI firm DeepSeek. The move is aimed at encouraging greater adoption of its technology by making it more accessible.

Baidu also plans to provide premium chatbot services free of charge starting in April, with the open-source launch scheduled for June.

DeepSeek's open-source approach, combined with its innovative R1 model, has gained widespread attention and increased adoption of foundational AI tools. Baidu CEO Robin Li highlighted the significance of this strategy in shaping the company's decision.

He expressed confidence in the technology behind Ernie 4.5, which Baidu claims will be its most advanced model to date.

Despite advancements in AI, Baidu's Q4 2024 results revealed a 2% revenue decline to 34.12 billion yuan, slightly ahead of expectations. Growth in the Cloud AI sector, up 26% year-on-year, partly offset a 7% drop in its online marketing business.

Weakness in China's economy, particularly the property market, has contributed to reduced advertising demand.

Baidu handled 1.65 billion daily interactions on its Ernie platform in December, up from 600 million in August. However, its US-listed shares dropped 7% in early trading after the results.