Baidu stock is set to finish the week near a three-month high as the China search giant's AI push builds momentum.
Baidu stock gained 3.5% Thursday after it said it will offer its ChatGPT-style Ernie AI chatbot for free starting April 1. It was the latest move in the AI battle among Chinese companies that includes tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, as well as startups like DeepSeek.
On the stock market today, Baidu stock rose more than 1% to 97.68, building on Thursday's gains.
The Beijing-based company said in a WeChat post that users will have free access to the chatbot, which the company launched in 2023. The company is also adding a new "deep search" function. The bot previously cost about $8 per month for users.
Baidu also said late Thursday that it will make the next Ernie AI model open-source.
AI Battle: Baidu, Alibaba, DeepSeek
The news comes as tech companies in China are battling to offer advanced and powerful AI models. Alibaba scored a win earlier in the week, as The Information reported that Apple would use Alibaba's AI models to power new iPhone features in China.
Apple will also work with Baidu, however, according to a Bloomberg report that said Apple hopes to launch Apple Intelligence in China by May.
Meanwhile, Chinese startup DeepSeek shook up the stock market late last month by releasing a high-performing large language model, at what it said was a significantly lower development cost compared to industry leaders such as OpenAI.
Alibaba also released a new model late last month it said was competitive with industry-leaders.
Baidu Stock: Earnings Next Week
Baidu operates China's top internet search engine, a cloud services business and a self-driving car division.
Including Friday's early gains, Baidu stock is up 15.5% this year. But it has a so-so IBD Composite Rating of 74 out of best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup.
The stock has formed a consolidation pattern with a 116.25 buy point, as identified by MarketSurge. Shares stock had been hovering near Baidu's 200-day moving average since late last month but moved decisively above the long-term trendline Thursday.
Baidu will report fourth quarter earnings early Tuesday.
Analysts polled by FactSet project Baidu will post earnings of $1.97 per American depositary share on sales of RMB 33.4 billion ($4.6 billion).
