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Baidu (BIDU) Introduces AI Models, Challenges DeepSeek

We recently published a list of 10 AI Stocks to Keep on Your Radar. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) stands against other AI stocks to keep on your radar.

Known as one of the most brittle rivalries in tech history, the feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has taken a surprising turn. OpenAI and Musk have agreed to fast-track a trial over OpenAI’s for-profit shift. Musk had previously bid to buy the AI startup, aiming to derail its journey of becoming one of the world’s most important companies. He alleged that OpenAI’s transition to becoming a for-profit company betrays its original mission of benefiting humanity, arguing that such a structure could lead to prioritizing profits over ethical AI development and open-source principles.

READ ALSO: Top 10 AI News Updates to Catch Up on This Weekend and 12 AI Stocks Making Headlines: Latest News and Ratings

In the most recent federal court filing, Elon Musk and OpenAI have jointly proposed a trial in December. Both parties also agreed to delay the decision on whether the expedited case will be decided by a jury or solely by the judge. Previously, Musk had requested the court to pause the artificial intelligence group’s transition to a for-profit model. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dismissed Musk’s request, calling it “extraordinary and rarely granted.” However, the judge added that the court was prepared to expedite a trial over “interrelated contract-based claims” due to the “public interest at stake.”

“We welcome the court’s March 4 decision rejecting, opens new tab Elon Musk’s latest attempt to slow down OpenAI for his personal benefit.”

-OpenAI said in a blog post.

“We fully intend to (1) keep the non-profit as a crucial part of our work to achieve our mission, and (2) make sure it’s not just supported by a successful business, but in a stronger position than ever.”

-OpenAI.

Musk and Altman have been involved in a feud ever since Musk left OpenAI. Musk left the company due to conflicts of interest between OpenAI’s research and Tesla’s work on artificial intelligence. Ever since, Musk has been criticizing OpenAI’s direction, such as its partnership with Microsoft and its path toward becoming a for-profit entity.

“Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity. I feel for the guy. I don’t think he’s a happy person. I do feel for him.”

-Altman said in an interview on the sidelines of the Paris AI Action Summit.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. The hedge fund data is as of Q4 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points  (see more details here).

A modern internet space with a person using Baidu services on a laptop.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 54

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) is a Chinese internet giant and AI pioneer, known for its noteworthy investments in artificial intelligence technology and its position as the dominant search engine within the country. On March 16, the company announced the launch of two new artificial intelligence models, including a reasoning-focused model. According to Baidu, the reasoning-focused model rivals that of DeepSeek.

“ERNIE X1 delivers performance on par with DeepSeek R1 at only half the price,” Baidu said of one of the new models. The X1 has “stronger understanding, planning, reflection, and evolution capabilities.”

The company reported that ERNIE X1 is the first deep-thinking model that uses tools autonomously. Meanwhile, the latest foundation model ERNIE 4.5 has “excellent multimodal understanding ability. It has more advanced language ability, and its understanding, generation, logic, and memory abilities are comprehensively improved.”

Overall, BIDU ranks 9th on our list of AI stocks to keep on your radar. While we acknowledge the potential of BIDU as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BIDU but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

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