Chinese search engine leader Baidu said on Thursday it would make its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie Bot free starting April 1, citing improved technology and reduced costs.

The Beijing-based company stated that it would offer its Ernie AI chatbot at no cost to both desktop and mobile users.

Baidu also announced that it will launch an advanced search feature, which will be available for free starting April 1. The company said this feature will have better reasoning abilities and tool integration,

Ernie Bot—will be available for free to all users starting April 1, a move to help the Chinese search giant regain momentum in the AI race, Bloomberg reported. The AI service will be accessible on desktop and mobile platforms at no cost.

With the rivals such as DeepSeek seeing rapid user adoption, Baidu is lifting the paywall on its AI assistant ERNIE Bot.

CHINESE search engine leader Baidu said on Thursday (Feb 13) it would make its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Ernie Bot free starting Apr 1, citing improved technology and reduced costs. Read more at The Business Times.

Baidu is making a strategic move to strengthen its position in China’s artificial intelligence race by making its chatbot, Ernie Bot, free to all users starting April 1. The decision signals a shift in the company’s approach as it grapples with intensifying competition from emerging players like DeepSeek and ByteDance’s Doubao.