TMTPOST -- Baidu, a leading AI company with a strong Internet foundation, has unveiled its latest foundation models—ERNIE 4.5, a native multimodal model, and ERNIE X1, a deep-thinking reasoning model. Both models are now freely accessible to individual users via ERNIE Bot’s official website. This launch represents a major step forward in advancing multimodal and reasoning AI capabilities while making them more accessible. It highlights Baidu’s commitment to continuous investment in developing next-generation foundation models that are smarter and more powerful. Baidu also plans to gradually integrate ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1 into its ecosystem, including Baidu Search, the Wenxiaoyan app, and other platforms, enhancing user experiences across its services. With this release, ERNIE Bot is becoming free to the public earlier than planned. Previously, Baidu had announced full free access for individual users starting April 1. Meanwhile, enterprise users and developers can now access ERNIE 4.5 via APIs on Baidu AI Cloud’s MaaS platform Qianfan, with ERNIE X1 set to be available soon.