stock

Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU ) CEO Robin Li emphasized the sustained necessity for investment in data centers and cloud infrastructure, even as the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek presents a challenge to the cost efficiency of large AI models.

Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Li asserted the importance of substantial computing resources for developing advanced AI models.

Baidu (9888.HK), a forerunner in China's AI sector, has recently faced competition from DeepSeek, which has created language models comparable to leading systems like OpenAI's GPT, but with significantly lower computing requirements. This development has sparked a debate over the future investments in AI infrastructure.

Despite the rise of more compute-efficient models, Li maintained that to create the smartest models, more computational power is essential. His remarks reflect the ongoing race in AI technology where companies strive to outperform each other with increasingly intelligent systems.

Baidu's own large language model, Ernie, is positioned as a competitor to OpenAI's GPT-4. While Baidu claims Ernie matches the capabilities of GPT-4, it has not seen widespread public use since its launch following the release of ChatGPT in late 2022.

The CEO's comments at the summit also revealed a shift in his perspective on AI development strategies. Previously advocating for closed-source models, Li now acknowledges the potential benefits of open-source approaches in accelerating AI adoption, suggesting that openness could attract more users and spread the technology faster.

Li's insights into the AI industry come as Chinese companies continue to navigate compute constraints, driving them to seek innovative ways to reduce costs without compromising on the performance of AI models. His participation in the summit underscores China's active engagement in the global dialogue on the future of technology and innovation.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.