Chinese tech giant Baidu has introduced two new language models at its Create 2025 developer conference in Wuhan.
The Ernie 4.5 Turbo and Ernie X1 Turbo models are designed to process text and images, support logical reasoning, and come with lower price tags than their predecessors.
According to Baidu, Ernie 4.5 Turbo operates faster and produces fewer errors in text generation compared to earlier versions. The company claims its performance in text and image processing matches that of GPT-4.1 and surpasses GPT-4o.
Baidu has priced Ernie 4.5 Turbo at 0.8 RMB (about 11 US cents) per million input text characters and 3.2 RMB (about 44 US cents) per million generated characters. The company states this represents an 80 percent cost reduction compared to the previous version.
Baidu also launched a turbo version of its Ernie X1 reasoning model, first introduced in mid-March. Baidu reports that Ernie X1 Turbo outperforms competitor models Deepseek-R1 and Deepseek-V3.
Pricing for Ernie X1 Turbo is set at 1 RMB (about 14 US cents) per million input characters and 4 RMB (about 55 US cents) per million output characters. Baidu claims this is a quarter of the cost of Deepseek R1, which is already significantly cheaper than Western models. Baidu makes both models available for free within Ernie Bot.
Video: Baidu
At the Create 2025 event, themed "Models Lead, APPs Rule," Baidu CEO Robin Li emphasized the importance of apps, stating that AI models and chips are worthless without good apps. This perspective echoes a recent comment from OpenAI's go-to-market manager Adam Goldberg, who said value creation for AI companies takes place across the entire chain.
Digital avatars and multi-agent systems
Beyond language models, Baidu is expanding its focus to new AI applications. The company introduced the Huiboxing platform, which it claims can generate digital avatars from short video clips. According to Baidu, these avatars are designed to have a realistic appearance and natural voice.
The company also unveiled Xinxiang, a multi-agent app designed for complex task resolution. Baidu claims Xinxiang currently supports 200 task types, including knowledge analysis, travel planning, and office work. Baidu plans to expand this to over 100,000 task types and open developer access. Xinxiang is available for Android, with an iOS version in testing.
Video: Baidu
Baidu states Xinxiang uses an enhanced version of Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) for technical integration, as referenced here.
Additionally, the company announced it is increasing its engagement with developers through the "AI Open Initiative". According to the company, this platform allows developers to market AI agents, mini-programs, and apps.
