Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for Baidu (BIDU US) with a target price of 111.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.5% from the closing price of 102.27 [11]. Core Insights - Baidu's Wenxin large model 4.5 and X1 have been released, showcasing significant advancements in multi-modal capabilities and outperforming competitors like GPT 4.5 and DeepSeek-V3 in various benchmark tests [4][5]. - The daily API call volume for Wenxin large model is projected to reach 1.65 billion by December 2024, a 33-fold increase from 50 million in the same period last year [5]. - The report highlights that Baidu Cloud's revenue is expected to maintain a growth trend, with a year-on-year increase of 20% anticipated in 2025, driven by the updates and open-source strategy of the Wenxin models [5]. Summary by Sections Product Development - Wenxin 4.5 features native multi-modal capabilities, significantly enhancing language understanding, generation, logic, and memory, with improvements in handling mixed data types such as text, images, and audio [2]. - Key technological upgrades include FlashMask dynamic attention masks for better long-text processing, multi-modal heterogeneous expert expansion to balance gradient contributions, and large-scale data construction based on knowledge points to enhance model knowledge density [2]. Cost Advantage - The API call pricing for Wenxin 4.5 is notably low, with input costs at 0.004 CNY per 1,000 tokens and output costs at 0.016 CNY per 1,000 tokens, which is less than 1% of GPT 4.5's pricing [2][7]. Market Performance - Following the release of Wenxin 4.5 and X1, Baidu's stock price increased by 13% on March 18, indicating positive market reception and the emerging value of AI cloud services as a second growth curve for the company [5].

孙梦琪 mengqi.sun@bocomgroup.com (86) 10 8393 5333 赵丽, CFA 百度 (BIDU US) 文心大模型加速迭代，百度云价值进一步显现 原生多模态能力：具备对文本、图像、音视频等混合数据的综合处理能 力，语言能力包括理解、生成、逻辑和记忆显著增强，尤其是去幻觉、逻 辑推理以及代码能力。例如能够综合理解图片中的文字/表格，提取重点 并给予分析，对网络梗图能进行理解和逻辑解释。 技术升级：1）FlashMask 动态注意力掩码：提升长文本处理能力和多轮对 话上下文理解交互表现。2）多模态异构专家扩展：平衡不同模态梯度贡 献，解决训练梯度冲突问题，提升多模态融合能力。3）时空维度表征压 缩：降低图片和视频的计算复杂度，提升长视频语义提取及多模态数据训 练效率。4）基于知识点的大规模数据构建：通过知识分层采样、跨模态 压缩融合及定向合成技术提升模型知识密度，降低模型幻觉。5）基于自 反馈的 Post-training：自反馈迭代提升学习系统稳定性。 成本优势：文心 4.5 API 调用输入价格 0.004 元/千 tokens，输出价格 0.016 元/千 tokens，仅 ...

Core Viewpoint - Baidu is launching new AI models to regain its competitive edge in the AI market, particularly focusing on reasoning capabilities and open-source strategies [1][2][9] Group 1: New AI Models - Baidu has introduced its first reasoning-focused AI model, ERNIE X1, which claims to match the performance of DeepSeek's R1 model at half the cost [4] - The new models are part of Baidu's strategy to catch up with competitors who have already released advanced AI models [5][6] Group 2: Competitive Landscape - Baidu's Ernie chatbot has struggled to gain widespread adoption, falling behind competitors like Alibaba and ByteDance [6][7] - Experts indicate that Baidu's slow innovation pace and reliance on proprietary models have hindered its competitiveness [5][7][8] Group 3: Shift in Strategy - Baidu is shifting towards an open-source model strategy, which contrasts with its previous proprietary approach [9] - This shift is seen as a response to the success of open-source models from competitors like DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Tencent [9] Group 4: Advantages and Future Outlook - Baidu maintains advantages due to its extensive user base and popular applications, which can support its AI initiatives [11] - The company possesses significant data resources, which are crucial for AI development, as highlighted by its CEO [12]

Core Insights - Baidu's shares increased by 10.7% following the release of two new AI models, indicating positive investor sentiment towards the company's advancements in artificial intelligence [1][3] - The newly released models include an updated version of the "Ernie" model and a new reasoning model that Baidu claims rivals DeepSeek's R1 model [2][4] - Baidu's strategy has shifted to open-sourcing its AI models, aiming to regain its competitive edge in the AI market and strengthen its influence within the AI community [7][8] Company Developments - The new ERNIE X1 reasoning model is claimed to deliver performance comparable to DeepSeek's R1 at half the cost, showcasing Baidu's focus on cost-effective solutions [4] - Baidu's previous proprietary model strategy has been altered to open-source, allowing for broader access and potential modifications by the community [7] - Analysts suggest that Baidu's future competitiveness will depend on the actual performance and cost advantages of its new models in a rapidly changing AI pricing landscape [6][7] Industry Context - DeepSeek has emerged as a strong competitor in the AI space, having quickly surpassed Baidu despite Baidu's early entry with its Ernie Bot [5][6] - The AI market in China is characterized by fluid pricing and intense competition, with other tech giants like Alibaba and Bytedance also gaining traction [6][7] - The shift towards open-source models reflects a broader trend in the industry, where companies seek to establish their technologies as standards to capture market share [8]

Core Viewpoint - Baidu's stock has seen a significant increase of 9.8% following the announcement of two new AI models, despite a decline in major market indices [1] Group 1: New AI Models - Baidu has launched two new AI models: ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1, with X1 claiming to deliver performance comparable to DeepSeek R1 at half the cost [2] - The X1 model is described as a "deep-thinking reasoning model" capable of generating images, interpreting code, reading webpages, and performing advanced calculations [3] Group 2: Competitive Position and Challenges - Baidu ranks third globally in AI-related patents, indicating a strong position in the technology sector [4] - Despite its advancements, Baidu faces significant competition both domestically and internationally, and has experienced weakness in advertising revenue, a core business area [4] - The company is well-positioned to leverage its AI innovations, self-driving technology, and cloud infrastructure for future growth [4]

Core Insights - Baidu has launched two new AI models: Ernie 4.5 and Ernie X1, enhancing its AI capabilities in the competitive landscape of search engines [1][2] - Ernie X1 is claimed to perform comparably to DeepSeek R1 at half the cost, while Ernie 4.5 features advanced emotional intelligence to understand memes and satire [2] - Both models possess multimodal capabilities, enabling them to process video, images, audio, and text, which positions Baidu competitively against other AI companies [2][3] - Despite being an early entrant in the AI space, Baidu has faced challenges in achieving widespread adoption, particularly in light of competition from DeepSeek [3] - Baidu plans to release its next-generation model, Ernie 5, later this year, which will include further multimodal enhancements [3]

Core Insights - Baidu has launched its latest foundation models, ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1, which are now freely accessible to individual users through ERNIE Bot's official website [1][4] - The launch signifies a major advancement in multimodal and reasoning models, emphasizing Baidu's ongoing investment in developing next-generation AI technologies [2][12] Product Features - ERNIE 4.5 is a native multimodal foundation model that excels in understanding, generation, reasoning, and memory, with significant improvements in hallucination prevention and coding abilities [5][6] - ERNIE X1 is a deep-thinking reasoning model that supports tool use and excels in various tasks such as Q&A, literary creation, and complex calculations [8][9] Pricing and Accessibility - ERNIE Bot is now available for free to the public ahead of schedule, with ERNIE 4.5's input and output prices starting at RMB 0.004 and RMB 0.016 per thousand tokens, respectively [10][11] - For enterprise users, ERNIE 4.5 is accessible via APIs on Baidu AI Cloud's Qianfan platform, with ERNIE X1 expected to be available soon at even lower prices [11] Integration Plans - Baidu plans to integrate ERNIE 4.5 and X1 into its product ecosystem, including Baidu Search and the Wenxiaoyan app, enhancing user experience [3][4] Technological Advancements - Key technologies behind ERNIE 4.5 include "FlashMask" Dynamic Attention Masking and Heterogeneous Multimodal Mixture-of-Experts, contributing to its superior performance compared to competitors [7] - ERNIE X1's capabilities are supported by Progressive Reinforcement Learning and an End-to-End Training Approach, enhancing its reasoning and tool-use functionalities [9]

Core Viewpoint - Baidu has successfully completed an offering of CNY10 billion in senior unsecured notes, indicating strong financial positioning and ongoing corporate strategies focused on debt management and general corporate purposes [1][2]. Group 1: Notes Offering Details - The offering consists of CNY7.5 billion of 2.70% notes due in 2030 and CNY2.5 billion of 3.00% notes due in 2035, showcasing a structured approach to financing with varying maturities and interest rates [2]. - The net proceeds from the offering will be utilized for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of existing debt and interest payments, reflecting a focus on financial health and operational flexibility [2]. Group 2: Regulatory and Listing Information - The notes have not been registered under the Securities Act and cannot be offered or sold in the United States, which aligns with regulatory compliance and strategic market positioning [3]. - The listing of the notes on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong is expected to be effective on March 13, 2025, indicating a commitment to maintaining a presence in international capital markets [4]. Group 3: Company Overview - Baidu, founded in 2000, is recognized as a leading AI company with a robust internet foundation, trading on Nasdaq and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which highlights its dual-market presence and investor appeal [5].

Core Viewpoint - Baidu, Inc. has successfully completed a US$2 billion exchangeable bonds offering, which will mature in 2032, aimed at repaying existing debt and supporting general corporate purposes [1][4]. Group 1: Bonds Offering Details - The bonds will not bear regular interest and will not accrete in principal amount, maturing on March 12, 2032, unless repurchased, redeemed, or exchanged [2]. - Holders can exchange their bonds after the first anniversary of the issue date, with specific conditions for cash exchanges [2]. - The initial exchange ratio is set at 1,107.0457 Trip.com Shares per US$100,000 principal amount, representing a 43% exchange premium over the recent share price [3]. Group 2: Use of Proceeds - The net proceeds from the bonds offering will be utilized for repaying certain existing indebtedness, paying interest, and for general corporate purposes [4]. Group 3: Regulatory and Trading Information - The bonds have not been registered under the Securities Act and cannot be offered or sold in the U.S. except under specific exemptions [5]. - The bonds have received approval for listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and have commenced trading [6].

Core Viewpoint - Baidu, Inc. has announced the pricing of its US$2 billion exchangeable bonds due in 2032, aimed at certain non-U.S. persons, with the offering expected to close around March 12, 2025 [1]. Group 1: Bonds Offering Details - The bonds will reference ordinary shares of Trip.com Group Limited, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange [2]. - Holders cannot exchange their bonds before the first anniversary of the issue date, with specific conditions for exchanges thereafter [2][4]. - The initial exchange ratio is set at 1,107.0457 Trip.com Shares per US$100,000 principal amount, representing a 43% exchange premium over the recent share price of HK$491.00 [3]. Group 2: Financial Terms and Use of Proceeds - The bonds will not bear regular interest and will mature on March 12, 2032, with a repurchase option available for holders on March 12, 2029 [4]. - The net proceeds from the bonds offering will be used for repaying existing indebtedness, paying interest, and for general corporate purposes [5]. Group 3: Regulatory and Market Considerations - The bonds will not be registered under the Securities Act and cannot be offered or sold in the U.S. except under specific exemptions [6]. - The bonds are expected to be listed on the Open Market segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange [7]. - Investors may engage in hedging transactions that could impact the market price of Trip.com Shares [8].