TMTPOST --  Baidu, Inc. made a decision to open-source its best large artificial intelligence (AI) model as it learns from the rise of DeepSeek that open-source can greatly accelerate deployment of the model, according to head of the Chinese search engine giant.

Credit：China Daily

“Ernie 4.5 will be our best models ever. And we would like to have our users and customers try them out more easily than before. So, our decision to open source Erine 4.5 series is also backed by our deep confidence in our technology leadership,” Baidu CEO Robin Li said on an earnings call on Tuesday when asked about the strategic thinking behind the open-sourcing.

For Li, the generative AI and foundation model market is still nascent but developing rapidly, and the success of DeepSeek will certainly accelerate the adoption rate of foundation models. “One thing we learned from DeepSeek is that open sourcing the best models can greatly help adoption. When the model is open source, people naturally want to try it out of curiosity, which helps drive broader adoption,” Li told analyst.

As foundation models become more accessible and affordable, Li believes there would be an explosion of new AI applications and use cases that will open up huge opportunities and push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI. Foundation models, no matter open source or close source, only become truly valuable when they can effectively address real-world problems at scale, the chief executive stressed.

Baidu’s financial results for the quarter ended December showed buoyed cloud business failed to offset the fall in advertising revenue. Revenue that quarter dropped 1% year-over-year (YoY) as online marketing, a major part of Baidu Core, revenue fell 7%. Non-online marketing revenue rose 18% YoY, mainly driven by AI Cloud business. Baidu AI Cloud revenue growth accelerated to 26%, contributing a full-year revenue growth of 17%.

Generative AI-related revenue for 2024 nearly tripled from the previous year, noted Dou Shen, Executive Vice President and head of AI Cloud. The stellar growth was fueled by rising demand for Baidu’s large language model (LLM) Ernie and its AI infrastructure and scoring the market's strong recognition of our technological leadership, Dou said.  

According to Baidu, Ernie handled approximately 1.65 billion API calls daily in December 2024, with external API calls increasing by 178% quarter over quarter, highlighting particularly strong momentum. The MAU of Baidu Wenku's AI-enabled features reached 94 million in December 2024, with a 216% year over year and an 83% quarter over quarter increase.

Baidu Executive Vice President Luo Rong shared data about AI tech-powered Baidu Search business on the earnings call. Around 22% of all search result pages now have contained AI-generated content as Baidu continues to transform search with Ernie and developing capabilities that allow for the deep personalization adaption to specific users’ habits and preference.

Luo said Baidu’s efforts began to improve users experience. The company can see in January 83% of the monthly active users who conduct a search on Baidu App engaged with the generative AI content. What's even more encouraging is that in December, the search queries per user on the Baidu App grew 2% YoY, Luo said.

For Baidu, the key is to maintain the current fast and determined pace of the AI-powered search transformation, focusing on discovering what users truly need and one from the next generation of search, said Luo.