Baidu to Open Source ERNIE AI Model, Shaking Up Global AI Arena

In a bold and unexpected move, Chinese tech giant Baidu has announced the open-sourcing of its flagship ERNIE generative AI model, marking a pivotal moment in the rapidly evolving global AI competition. The company confirmed that the rollout would begin gradually starting Monday.

While not as abrupt or headline-grabbing as the recent debut of DeepSeek, Baidu’s decision is already making waves in the AI community and prompting responses from key industry stakeholders worldwide.

The development comes as a surprise, given Baidu’s long-held stance favouring proprietary development. The company has traditionally maintained strict control over its AI tools and infrastructure, resisting the open-source wave that has swept through parts of the tech world.

“Baidu has always been very supportive of its proprietary business model and was vocal against open-source, but disruptors like DeepSeek have proven that open-source models can be as competitive and reliable as proprietary ones,” said Lian Jye Su, Chief Analyst at technology research firm Omdia, speaking to CNBC earlier.

Although the move might not have the dramatic impact DeepSeek generated, experts are calling it an important step in AI’s broader evolution. “This isn’t just a China story. Every time a major lab open-sources a powerful model, it raises the bar for the entire industry,” said Sean Ren, Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California and Samsung’s AI Researcher of the Year.

Ren pointed out that open-source models challenge industry norms, especially for closed-source providers like OpenAI and Anthropic. “While most consumers don’t care whether a model’s code is open-sourced, they do care about lower costs, better performance, and support for their language or region. Those benefits often come from open models, which give developers and researchers more freedom to iterate, customize, and deploy faster,” he explained.

From a pricing standpoint, industry analysts see Baidu’s move as a potential game-changer. Alec Strasmore, founder of AI advisory Epic Loot, compared the shift to a price war. “Baidu just threw a Molotov into the AI world,” he declared. “OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek — all these guys who thought they were selling top-notch champagne are about to realise that Baidu will be giving away something just as powerful.”

He continued, “This isn’t a competition; it’s a declaration of war on pricing.” According to Strasmore, startups and smaller developers may soon rethink paying premium prices for AI access.

This new strategy isn’t entirely unanticipated. Earlier in March, Baidu claimed that its latest model, ERNIE X1, could match DeepSeek’s R1 in performance while costing half as much. CEO Robin Li also hinted at the company’s global ambitions during an April developer event.

“Our releases aim to empower developers to build the best applications — without having to worry about model capability, costs, or development tools,” Li said at the time.

However, not all experts believe Baidu’s open-source shift will immediately shake the Western market. Cliff Jurkiewicz, VP of Global Strategy at applied AI firm Phenom, suggested the news might not even register in the U.S. tech scene.

“The news of Baidu going open source probably lands with a big thud,” he commented. “Most people in the United States don’t even know it’s a Chinese tech company.”

Drawing parallels with the early Android ecosystem, Jurkiewicz explained that while open systems provide flexibility, they can also be challenging to manage. “When Android first emerged, its standout feature was that it was configurable and customisable. But it was almost too much work… Android, out of the box, is plain and vanilla, so it has to be customised, and that’s a real challenge,” he noted.

As Baidu begins its rollout, all eyes are now on how this strategic pivot will reshape the global AI landscape — from affordability and accessibility to the core philosophies of AI development.