Baidu (HKG:9888) Chief Executive Officer Robin Li said there remains a need for more spending in artificial intelligence infrastructure despite Chinese startup DeepSeek's breakthrough in AI cost efficiency, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Li said smarter AI models require substantial computing power, making investment in data centers and cloud infrastructure essential, according to the report.

Li's remarks follow the rise of DeepSeek, which made waves by delivering GPT-level performance with significantly lower computing power, Reuters wrote.

Baidu, an early player in China's AI race, launched its Ernie model to rival GPT-4, but public adoption has been slow, according to the report.

Li had previously downplayed open-source AI, but now acknowledges its potential to speed up adoption, the report said.

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