top of page
tech360.tv
Sep 52 min read

Baidu Renames Ernie Bot to Wenxiaoyan in China to Stand Out in AI Market

Baidu rebrands Ernie Bot as Wenxiaoyan to improve its positioning in the AI market. Wenxiaoyan provides a variety of AI functions, including text-to-image generation and custom agents. Baidu offers free access to its advanced AI model, Ernie 4.0 Turbo, via Wenxiaoyan.



This move comes as the Chinese tech behemoth seeks to distinguish itself in a competitive industry crowded with AI rivals.


Ernie Bot's rebranding to Wenxiaoyan represents the app's role as a "new search" assistant, according to Xue Su, Baidu's Vice President and Head of AI Innovation Business. Xue highlighted technological advancements that allow for smarter and more convenient search capabilities.


During a launch event in Beijing, Xue emphasised the company's commitment to putting user value ahead of commercialisation opportunities. Baidu, known for running China's most popular search engine, is using its market dominance to excel in the rapidly growing local AI sector.


Wenxiaoyan, which is now available for download in local Android and iOS app stores, allows users to search for online content via text, speech, or images. The app includes a variety of AI features, such as text-to-image generation and custom agents created by third parties for specific tasks.


Baidu has created over 900,000 customised agents with a variety of functions, including assisting with English vocabulary retention, providing emotional support, and emulating the artistic style of Claude Monet, the French Impressionist painter.


Wenxiaoyan, formerly known as Ernie Bot, has recently emerged as China's second most popular AI application, trailing only ByteDance's Doubao, according to aicpb.com, a Chinese AI product rankings website. To entice new users, Baidu is giving away free access to its cutting-edge AI model, Ernie 4.0 Turbo, exclusively through Wenxiaoyan this month.


Baidu, like its competitors, has incorporated AI capabilities into a variety of products and services. Baidu's search engine has recently been updated to provide users with AI-generated summaries of search results, eliminating the need to sift through a list of links. Similarly, Google and Microsoft in the US have introduced comparable features based on their AI models.


During a recent post-earnings call, Robin Li Yanhong, Baidu's founder and CEO, disclosed that approximately 18% of the company's online search results are AI-generated, with expectations for this figure to rise in the upcoming months.


Baidu's AI advancements extend to other products, including the online document sharing platform Wenku, which was China's most popular AI service in May, according to aicpb.com. Wenku uses AI to help users create and refine presentation slides.

 

  • Baidu rebrands Ernie Bot to Wenxiaoyan for enhanced positioning in the AI market.

  • Wenxiaoyan offers diverse AI functions like text-to-image generation and customised agents.

  • Baidu provides free access to its advanced AI model, Ernie 4.0 Turbo, through Wenxiaoyan.


Source: SCMP

As technology advances and has a greater impact on our lives than ever before, being informed is the only way to keep up.  Through our product reviews and news articles, we want to be able to aid our readers in doing so. All of our reviews are carefully written, offer unique insights and critiques, and provide trustworthy recommendations. Our news stories are sourced from trustworthy sources, fact-checked by our team, and presented with the help of AI to make them easier to comprehend for our readers. If you notice any errors in our product reviews or news stories, please email us at editorial@tech360.tv.  Your input will be important in ensuring that our articles are accurate for all of our readers.

bottom of page