Latest news with #SeanRen
Tom's Guide
03-07-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Ready to talk to Ernie? DeepSeek's latest rival from Baidu is here
Chinese search giant Baidu, known for its search technology, has made its Ernie large language model open source as of June 30. It's a shot across the bow of DeepSeek, China's premier LLM, which has seen unprecedented success since it debuted in December 2024. It's also a big change of approach for Baidu. The company had previously been vocal in its defiance of moving to open source, working to keep its business model proprietary. DeepSeek and other international rivals like ChatGPT have proven that being open source can lead to a more impressive LLMs, and still be lucrative. While the change could not be as monumental as the arrival of DeepSeek, it could have major ramifications for AI. 'This isn't just a China story," Sean Ren, associate professor of computer science at the University of Southern California and Samsung's AI Researcher of the Year told CNBC. "Every time a major lab open-sources a powerful model, it raises the bar for the entire industry." Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. "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," Ren added. "Those benefits often come from open models, which give developers and researchers more freedom to iterate, customize, and deploy faster." Baidu's move to open source could also help provide more competition to its aforementioned rivals. If Baidu's model is able to offer comparative features to rivals, but at a lower price, it could be seen as a moment that reverberates through the industry. Earlier this year, Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, discussed open source models on Reddit. 'While OpenAI has open-sourced models in the past, the company has generally favored a proprietary, closed source development approach,' Altman explained. '[I personally think we need to] figure out a different open source strategy,' he added. 'Not everyone at OpenAI shares this view, and it's also not our current highest priority … We will produce better models [going forward], but we will maintain less of a lead than we did in previous years.' Expect Baidu's model to be under plenty of scrutiny, too. This week, Germany moved to ban DeepSeek for transferring data to China. In AI, the term open-source refers to systems where the code and training data is made publicly available. This is becoming more common recently, with the likes of OpenAI, Deepseek and Gemini all releasing open-source versions of their products. With an open-source AI model, the public can inspect, adapt and distribute the code in their own way. This speeds up the process for smaller companies who aren't able to put in the huge amount of work at the start that is needed.
International Business Times
30-06-2025
- Business
- International Business Times
Baidu Open-Sources AI Model 'Ernie' to Developers, Sends Jitters Across Global Tech Market
Chinese technology firm Baidu is offering access to its AI powerhouse Ernie, in a move that could lead to a new age in the development of AI. Developers and researchers worldwide will be able to begin tinkering and building on Baidu's so-called Ernie model starting this week, a move that signals a shift for China's AI industry. In February, Baidu unveiled plans to open-source its next-generation AI product, which is presumed to be called Ernie 5. Its previous models, Ernie 4.5 and Ernie X1, were released by the company early this year. Now the focus remains on what Baidu will actually offer and how much of the technology it will share. AI open-sourcing comes in two variations. One is complete access, when a company makes the model's core code, training process, and architecture available. This allows others to use, modify, and build on their own versions of the model. The second is partial access, in which only the model's output weights are made available, so developers can apply the model but with no way of fully understanding or replicating it. It's still unclear whether Baidu will go fully open-source or just share some parts The company's decision could help democratize AI and make it more available for innovation throughout the world, experts said. Every time a leading company in the field open-sources a powerful model, it further elevates the bar of the entire industry, not just in China but worldwide, said Sean Ren, a computer science professor and prize-winning AI researcher. This is not Baidu's only major stride in AI. The company is also developing new technologies, such as an animal sound interpretation system and a smartphone AI agent that it's calling Xinxiang. When China open-sourced their DeepSeek-R1 model, it sent ripples through the tech world, including the stock prices of top U.S.-based AI companies. Some see them as breaking in a similar way to Baidu's move forcing the industry to a more open, collaborative development. Whether Baidu ever releases Ernie 5, in whole or in part, remains to be seen.
Hans India
30-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
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.
India Today
30-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
After DeepSeek, China's Baidu to open source its Ernie AI chatbot
Baidu is set to open source its Ernie generative AI model, which will be a major development in the ongoing global AI competition. The company has confirmed that the open-sourcing of its large language model will begin with a gradual rollout starting Monday. While it may not be as disruptive as the emergence of DeepSeek, Baidu's move is already sparking debate within the AI community and is being closely watched by industry leaders across the decision comes as a surprise to many, especially given its long-standing preference for a proprietary approach to AI development. The company had previously opposed the open-source model, favouring internal control over its tools and infrastructure.'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,' Lian Jye Su, chief analyst with technology research and advisory group Omdia, previously told CNBC. While some experts believe Baidu's move may not have the same dramatic effect as DeepSeek's launch, others argue that it is an important milestone in the broader evolution of artificial intelligence.'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 added that open-source models put pressure on companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to justify their closed platforms, premium APIs, and subscription-based pricing models. '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 insiders are also pointing to the broader impact Baidu's move could have on pricing. Alec Strasmore, founder of AI advisory Epic Loot, likened the development to a direct challenge to the commercial dominance of current AI leaders.'Baidu just threw a Molotov into the AI world,' Strasmore said. '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 added, comparing Baidu's move to budget retail giant Costco creating its own high-quality alternative.'This isn't a competition; it's a declaration of war on pricing,' he said, adding that the open-source release of Ernie could encourage startups and developers to stop paying top dollar for AI ambitions are clear. In March, the company claimed its latest ERNIE X1 model could match the performance of DeepSeek's R1 at half the price. CEO Robin Li also hinted earlier this year that Baidu's open-source strategy aims to support developers across the releases aim to empower developers to build the best applications — without having to worry about model capability, costs, or development tools,' Li said during a developer event in not everyone is convinced the news will immediately disrupt the global AI landscape. Cliff Jurkiewicz, vice president of global strategy at applied AI firm Phenom, said Baidu's announcement may not generate much reaction in markets like the US.'The news of Baidu going open source probably lands with a big thud,' Jurkiewicz said. 'Most people in the United States don't even know it's a Chinese tech company.'He also drew comparisons between Baidu's move and the early days of Android. 'When Android first emerged, its standout feature was that it was configurable and customisable. But it was almost too much work in the sense that people just wanted the thing to function correctly,' he said. 'Android, out of the box, is plain and vanilla, so it has to be customised, and that's a real challenge,' Jurkiewicz added.- Ends
