Chinese search giant Baidu upgraded its AI chatbot Ernie Bot, unveiling what it calls a deep search function, and offering more powerful planning tools and calling capabilities, with the service to be free from 1 April.

In a post on its local messaging service, the Beijing-based company stated a new version of its Ernie large language model (LLM) was released. The new in-depth search function is available on Ernie Bot’s official website, with the app to be launched soon.

Through “continuous reductions in costs”, Baidu noted users will be able to access the latest version for free on its mobile app and PCs.

In late 2023, the company introduced a fee for the profession version of Ernie Bot powered by its LLM, charging CNY59.90 ($8.21) a month for premium search features.

The move away for a paid version comes a day after Apple selected rival Alibaba Group to jointly develop AI features for iPhones sold in China, indicating Baidu is falling behind after taking an early lead in generative AI.

Ernie Bot launched in early 2023 and has more than 430 million users.

In its Q3 2024 earnings release, Baidu reported it expanded its chatbot range with two enhanced lightweight models, Speed Pro and Lite Pro.