Chinese Search Engine Baidu Will Make AI Model Ernie Open Source - 1

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Chinese Search Engine Baidu Will Make AI Model Ernie Open Source

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

The Chinese search engine giant Baidu announced this Friday it will release the next generation of its AI model Ernie in June and will make it open-source.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

  • Baidu will release its AI model Ernie for free in April.
  • More advanced versions, Ernie 4.5 and Ernie 5 will be launched in the following months.
  • The Chinese company will make its AI models open source.

According to Reuters , Robin Li, Baidu’s CEO, has been a strong advocate for closed-source AI models, as he previously believed it was the best strategy for development. However, recent events such as DeepSeek’s arrival with a cheaper, more advanced, and open-source alternative, have made many companies and CEOs reconsider their approach.

“If you open things up, a lot of people will be curious enough to try it. This will help spread the technology much faster,” said Li at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Tuesday.

Baidu will make its AI chatbot Ernie free starting on April 1 and will transform its AI technology into an open-source model by June 30.

“We will gradually launch the Ernie 4.5 series in the coming months and officially open-source it from June 30,” said Badu in a WeChat post this Friday.

Baidu also informed that a deep search feature is now available and will be included in the free version in April.

The tech giant released premium versions over a year ago but has struggled to gain massive adoption compared to other chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or DeepSeek now.

China’s most popular chatbot is Doubao, ByteDance’s model, with almost 80 million users, followed by DeepSeek with 33 million, and Ernie with 13 million according to Aicpb.com.

Baidu also expects to launch a more advanced model, Ernie 5, by the second half of the year, as reported to Reuters by sources familiar with the matter.

OpenAI launched its o3-mini model and deep research feature for ChatGPT a few days ago for users with subscriptions.

UK Changes AI Watchdog’s Name And Partners With Anthropic - 2

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UK Changes AI Watchdog’s Name And Partners With Anthropic

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

The United Kingdom announced a name change for its AI watchdog and a new partnership with the American AI company Anthropic.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

  • The UK renamed its AI Safety Institute to the AI Security Institute.
  • The government expects the agency to focus more on “AI risks with security implications.”
  • Anthropic will collaborate with the government to develop and deploy AI systems.

The government explained that its AI Safety Institute—created in 2023 to test AI technologies and address potential societal harms such as misinformation and human control loss—changed its name to the AI Security Institute.

“This new name will reflect its focus on serious AI risks with security implications, such as how the technology can be used to develop chemical and biological weapons, how it can be used to carry out cyber-attacks and enable crimes such as fraud and child sexual abuse,” states the official press release .

A few days ago the U.K. became the first country in the world to criminalize AI-generated child abuse content and the country has been planning on enhancing its AI technology to become a global leader for growth and innovation.

As part of its AI developments, the U.K. also informed about a new agreement with the AI company Anthropic to “focus on the responsible development and deployment of AI systems.” Among the initiatives both institutions aim to develop are the integration of AI technologies into public services, the advancement of scientific breakthroughs, and productivity strategies for growth.

“AI has the potential to transform how governments serve their citizens,” said Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic. “We look forward to exploring how Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude could help UK government agencies enhance public services, to discover new ways to make vital information and services more efficient and accessible to UK residents.”