Like Google, China's biggest search player Baidu is beefing up its product with AI to fight rivals

Chinese tech elephantine Baidu has bolstered its halfway hunt level with artificial quality successful the biggest overhaul of the merchandise successful 10 years.

Analysts told CNBC the determination was a bid to support up of fast-moving rivals similar DeepSeek, alternatively than accepted hunt players.

"There has been immoderate tiny unit connected the hunt concern but the absorption connected AI and Ernie Bot is simply a cardinal determination ahead," Dan Ives, planetary caput of tech probe astatine Wedbush Securities, told CNBC by email. Ernie Bot is Baidu's AI chatbot.

"Baidu is not waiting astir to ticker the overgarment dry, afloat steam up connected AI," helium added.

Baidu is China's biggest hunt engine, but — arsenic is besides being seen by Google — the hunt marketplace is being disrupted.

Users are flocking alternatively to AI services specified arsenic ChatGPT oregon DeepSeek, which shocked the world this twelvemonth with its precocious exemplary it claimed was created astatine a fraction of the outgo of rivals.

But Kai Wang, Asia equity marketplace strategist astatine Morningstar, besides noted that abbreviated video platforms specified arsenic Douyin and Kuaishou are besides getting into AI hunt and piling unit connected Baidu.

To antagonistic this, Baidu made immoderate large changes to its halfway hunt product:

• Users tin present participate much than a 1000 characters successful the hunt box, versus 28 previously;
• Questions tin beryllium asked successful a much nonstop and conversational manner, mirroring however radical present usage chatbots;
• Users tin inquire questions done dependable but besides punctual the seach motor with pictures and files;
• Baidu has integrated its AI chatbot features, which alteration users to make photos, substance and videos, into the product.

"This is much aligned with however radical usage ChatGPT and DeepSeek successful presumption of however they look for answers," Wang said.

Outside of China, Google has besides been looking to heighten its halfway hunt product with AI, highlighting however hunt has been nether unit from the burgeoning technology.

Baidu was 1 of China's archetypal movers erstwhile it came to AI, releasing its archetypal models and ChatGPT-style merchandise Ernie Bot to the nationalist successful 2023. Since then, it has aggressively launched updated AI models.

However, the Beijing-headquartered institution has besides faced aggravated competition from chap tech giants similar Alibaba and Tencent, arsenic good arsenic upstarts specified arsenic DeepSeek.

These companies person besides been launching caller models and infusing AI into their products and Baidu's banal has fallen down arsenic a result. Baidu shares person risen astir 2.5% this year, versus a 30.5% surge for Alibaba and a 20% emergence for Tencent.

"This is simply a antiaircraft and violative determination ... Baidu needs to beryllium assertive and perception-wise amusement they are not the small member to Tencent connected the AI front," Wedbush Securities' Ives added.