The short answer
ERNIE is the family of AI models made by the Chinese technology company Baidu, and ERNIE Assistant (百度文心助手) is the free assistant built on them at wenxin.baidu.com, which replaced the ERNIE Bot website, inside the Baidu App and in the Wenxin (文心) apps. Its flagship model is ERNIE 5.1, released on 9 May 2026, which Baidu says ranked fourth overall and first among Chinese models on the Arena Search leaderboard. It is strongest for Chinese-language work, and its data is stored in mainland China.
| Made by | Baidu, China |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes. Baidu made the assistant free for individual users in March 2025 |
| Models | ERNIE 5.1 (May 2026) or Auto in the model menu; ERNIE 5.0 is the 2.4-trillion-parameter multimodal model |
| Best at | Chinese-language writing, search across Chinese sources, creative writing in Chinese |
| Shows sources | Built around Baidu search; check the links in each answer before you rely on it |
| Team plans | No team plan for the consumer assistant confirmed |
| Your data | Stored in mainland China; chats used to improve the service, with no training switch described |
What ERNIE is in late 2026
ERNIE (文心 in Chinese) is Baidu's family of large AI models. The consumer assistant launched in 2023 as ERNIE Bot (文心一言). Its app was renamed Wenxiaoyan (文小言) in September 2024 and then Wenxin (文心) in November 2025, and on the web Baidu now runs a single assistant, ERNIE Assistant (百度文心助手). The old ERNIE Bot address, yiyan.baidu.com, forwards to wenxin.baidu.com, and the same assistant is built into the Baidu App. The Wenxin app also comes for computers: Baidu lists a Mac version on Apple's App Store, and its privacy rules cover the web, mobile and PC versions. Baidu reported in February 2026 that ERNIE Assistant had 202 million monthly active users in December 2025, and in August 2026 that the Baidu App had 644 million monthly active users in June 2026.
Baidu's English site at ernie.baidu.com is a blog for model announcements, not the chat itself; its menu link labelled ERNIE Bot takes you to wenxin.baidu.com. The page opens without an account, but syncing your chat history needs a Baidu login, and Baidu's rules for the assistant require a real mobile number when you register (more on that below).
The models: ERNIE 5.1 and ERNIE 5.0
ERNIE 5.1 is the current flagship, released on 9 May 2026. Baidu says it keeps the pre-training foundation of ERNIE 5.0 while cutting total parameters to about a third and active parameters to about half, and that pre-training used about 6% of the compute of comparable models. Baidu reports that ERNIE 5.1 ranked fourth in the world and first among Chinese models on the Arena Search leaderboard with 1,223 points, and claims creative writing close to Google's Gemini 3.1 Pro in its internal evaluations. The rankings are public leaderboards; the writing comparison is Baidu's own test.
ERNIE 5.0 is Baidu's 2.4-trillion-parameter model that handles text, images, video and audio in one system, activating only about 3% of its parameters for each token; Baidu released an updated version in January 2026 and described it on its blog in February. In the assistant's menu you choose between two modes, Chat (对话) for questions and answers and Work tasks (工作任务) for longer jobs, and under Model you can leave it on Auto or pick ERNIE 5.1 (文心 5.1) yourself. Baidu also offers an ERNIE 5.1 playground in Baidu AI Studio for developers, and in April 2026 released ERNIE-Image, an open-weights image model with 8 billion parameters.
What ERNIE is best at
Chinese-language writing
ERNIE was built by a Chinese company for Chinese users first. For drafting Chinese marketing copy, polishing a formal letter to a Chinese partner or checking whether a translation sounds natural, it is one of the strongest options, and Baidu has put particular effort into creative writing with ERNIE 5.1.
Search across Chinese sources
The assistant is Baidu's AI search as well as its chatbot: you can reach it from the Baidu home page search box and inside the Baidu App. ERNIE 5.1's ranking on the Arena Search leaderboard reflects that strength. If you need to understand how a Chinese company, product or regulation is being discussed in China, ERNIE often surfaces sources that Western assistants miss.
Reading, writing, slides and scheduled jobs in one place
The assistant's own description lists text writing, image creation, AI reading of documents and a large set of agent apps. On the web, buttons under the chat box start image generation, writing help (帮我写作) and PPT generation, and the side menu adds new work tasks, scheduled tasks (定时任务), a skills page (技能广场) and a knowledge base (知识库) for your own files. That covers most everyday office tasks in Chinese.
AI inside other Baidu products
Baidu is also adding AI features to Baidu Wenku, its document library, and Baidu Drive, its cloud storage. Baidu reported that in June 2026 the share of daily users of those two products who use their AI features rose 27.4% year over year. If your team already stores files in Baidu Drive, that is where ERNIE may be most convenient.
Where ERNIE falls short
- The interface is Chinese. Menus and help pages are in Chinese, and Baidu publishes little English guidance for the assistant, so browser translation helps. Test a short English prompt on your own task before you rely on it.
- Sign-up is built around Chinese phone numbers. The assistant's usage rules say you must give a real mobile number when you register, to meet China's real-name rules, and the Baidu account sign-up page we opened on 1 November 2026 asked for a phone number and text-message code with no country selector. Expect trouble without a Chinese number, and try it before you plan any work around it.
- Privacy terms are only in Chinese, and there is no training switch. Baidu's privacy rules store your data in mainland China and describe no way to stop your chats being used to improve the service.
- Little English documentation. Baidu's English material focuses on models and benchmarks, not on how the consumer assistant works or what its limits are.
How to get better results from ERNIE
- Choose the mode. Use the fast Chat mode for quick questions, ERNIE 5.1 for careful writing and reasoning, and Work tasks for multi-step jobs.
- Write the prompt in the language you want back. If you need Chinese output, prompt in Chinese, or say clearly "answer in Simplified Chinese".
- Name the audience and register. Chinese business writing changes a lot between a government body, a supplier and a social post, so say which one you are writing for.
- Ask for links and dates. When ERNIE searches, ask it to give the source and date for each point and to say when sources disagree.
- Use it as a second opinion. For important translations, compare ERNIE's version with another assistant's and ask a native speaker about the differences.
Privacy settings and where to find them
Baidu's privacy terms exist only in Chinese. The Wenxin Personal Information Protection Rules (文心个人信息保护规则), updated and effective on 6 February 2026 and issued by Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co., Ltd., say your personal information is stored in mainland China and is not provided to anyone outside China. They also say Baidu uses your conversations to improve how well Wenxin understands requests and how fast and well it answers, and they describe no setting to stop that. The separate usage rules for ERNIE Assistant (updated 13 November 2025) say you authorise Baidu to store and use what you type and what the service produces.
What you can control: the Memory Book (记忆簿) is not used for model training without your prior permission, and you can delete memories by pressing and holding one. In the app, Settings, Personalisation settings, Personalised replies (设置, 个性化设置, 个性化回复) turns off tailored answers, Settings, Privacy notice, Personalised recommendations (设置, 隐私说明, 个性化推荐) turns off recommendations, and you can delete past chats from your conversation history. For anything else the rules give one contact, appwenxin@baidu.com. In practice, treat ERNIE like a public tool and keep confidential contracts, customer data and unreleased plans out of it. Businesses that want ERNIE models in their own products work with Baidu's cloud platforms instead, where data terms are agreed in a contract.
Which way to use ERNIE suits whom
The consumer assistant is free for individuals; Baidu made it free in March 2025, and we found no paid consumer plan. Pick ERNIE if you write in Chinese, research Chinese markets or want Baidu's view of the Chinese web, and your material is not sensitive. Pick the Baidu App if you already search with Baidu on your phone. Look elsewhere if you need an English interface, data kept outside China, a training opt-out or team admin tools: ChatGPT or Claude on a business plan will serve you better. For other Chinese assistants, see our guides to Qwen, Kimi and Doubao, or compare tools on our compare page and start the ERNIE lessons.
Prompts to copy
Polish Chinese business copy
Answer in Simplified Chinese. Rewrite this product description for [audience, for example procurement managers at Chinese manufacturers]. Keep it formal, under 150 characters, and lead with the main benefit. Then explain in English what you changed and why. [paste text]
You get: Native-sounding copy with the reasoning in English
How is this topic discussed in China?
Search Chinese sources from the last 12 months about [company, product or policy]. Summarise in English the three main views, give the source name, link and date for each, and say where sources disagree.
You get: A sourced overview of Chinese-language coverage
Check a translation
Here is my English original and a Chinese translation. Mark any sentence where the Chinese changes the meaning, sounds unnatural, or is too casual for [context]. Give a corrected version of each. English: [paste] Chinese: [paste]
You get: A line-by-line translation check
Prepare for a meeting with a Chinese partner
I am meeting [type of company] in [city] about [topic]. List five points of business etiquette I should know, three questions they are likely to ask me, and a short polite opening I can say in Mandarin, with pinyin.
You get: A practical briefing for the meeting
Draft a formal letter in Chinese
Answer in Simplified Chinese. Draft a formal letter to [recipient] requesting [request]. Use the correct opening and closing for a business letter, keep it under 300 characters, and add an English translation underneath.
You get: A ready letter with an English check