DeepSeek’s advances have roiled global stock markets and AI players. Now, its influence is spreading quickly at home, with some of China’s biggest tech companies, many of which had been developing their own chatbots,

Baidu, China’s largest internet search company, announced that it will offer its AI chatbot Ernie Bot for free starting April 1, as competition in the AI sector heats up. The AI service will be accessible at no cost to all users on both desktop and mobile platforms,