(Reuters) - China's Baidu plans to release the next generation of its artificial intelligence model in the second-half of this year, CNBC reported on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The new model, Ernie 5, will feature multimodal capabilities enabling it to process and convert between different formats including text, video, images and audio, CNBC reported earlier. The planned release comes amid intensifying competition in China's AI sector,

Baidu plans to release the next generation of its model for powering generative AI applications in the second half of this year, according to a source familiar with the matter.