Baidu's (BIDU) Ernie AI Assistant Tops 200M Users as China's AI Race Heats Up

Baidu's (BIDU) push into consumer-facing artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining traction. The company's AI assistant, powered by its Ernie large language model, has now surpassed 200 million monthly active users, according to the Wall Street Journal. The milestone reflects how quickly China's tech giants are racing to embed AI into everyday digital life.Claim 50% Off TipRanks PremiumUnlock hedge fund-level data and powerful investing tools for smarter, sharper decisions Stay ahead of the market with the latest news and analysis and maximize your portfolio's potential Ernie Assistant Gains Traction Through Deep Integrations Ernie Assistant is a key part of Baidu's AI strategy. It is built directly into the company's main Baidu search app and available on desktop, giving it a huge user base from the start. Its rapid growth comes from being built into many of China's most popular apps and services, including platforms like JD.com (JD), Meituan (MPNGF), and Trip.com (TCOM). Ernie Assistant is trained to book flights and hotels, order food delivery, provide health and legal information, and generate videos, images, and summaries. Users can also choose which AI model they want to run, Baidu's own Ernie model or alternatives such as DeepSeek. The assistant also links Baidu Maps and Baidu Health, expanding its reach into navigation, wellness, and daily utility tasks. China's AI Race Intensifies Baidu may have been one of the first major Chinese tech companies to launch a ChatGPT‑style chatbot in 2023, but competition has grown much tougher since then. Alibaba (BABA) is quickly growing its Qwen chatbot, which hit 100 million monthly users just two months after launch. It is now being built into Alibaba's huge consumer ecosystem, letting it handle tasks for users across shopping, payments, and cloud services. Also, Tencent (TCEHY) and other companies are pouring money into building core AI models and new AI applications. Further, newer models like DeepSeek and ByteDance's Doubao have become strong rivals, challenging Baidu's early lead in China's generative AI market. Is BIDU a Good Stock to Buy Now? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on BIDU stock based on 10 Buys and two Holds assigned in the past three months. Further, the average Baidu price target of $163.14 per share implies 9.1% upside potential.