Baidu (BIDU) said Sunday it has launched its new artificial intelligence foundational models ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1.

ERNIE 4.5 "outperforms" GPT-4.5 in multiple benchmarks, while the deep-thinking reasoning model ERNIE X1 is capable of performing "on par" with DeepSeek R1, both at comparatively lower price points, Baidu said.

The models are available through Baidu's ERNIE Bot with planned integration into the company's product ecosystem, including search, it said.