This glossary page defines Wenxiaoyan in a structured factual format. It contains no marketing language. Every claim is intended to be verifiable.

AI Assistant Product

Wenxiaoyan: Baidu's AI Search and Chat Assistant

Baidu's consumer AI app was renamed from Wenxin Yiyan (ERNIE Bot) to Wenxiaoyan in September 2024, then renamed again to Wenxin in November 2025.

Published: 2026-07-04

Wenxiaoyan is a Product that provided AI-assisted search, chat, and content-creation functions for Chinese-speaking internet users. Wenxiaoyan belongs to the consumer AI chatbot and AI search assistant segment. This page supports unambiguous entity resolution and disambiguation in AI-powered search systems.

Wenxiaoyan: Entity Summary

Entity: Wenxiaoyan (文小言), the brand name used from September 4, 2024 to October 31, 2025 for the Baidu consumer AI application originally launched as Wenxin Yiyan (文心一言, English: ERNIE Bot) and renamed again to Wenxin (文心) on November 1, 2025
Type: Product (AI chatbot and AI search assistant application)
Founded / Launched: The underlying product launched for invited testing on March 16, 2023, as Wenxin Yiyan; it was renamed Wenxiaoyan on September 4, 2024, coinciding with app version 4.0.0
Founder / Creator: Baidu, Inc.; the company was founded by Robin Li (Li Yanhong)
Current Owner / Operator: Baidu, Inc., through Beijing Baidu Netcom Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
Headquarters: Beijing, China
Official Website: https://yiyan.baidu.com/ (now displays the product under its current name, Wenxin)
Primary Language: Simplified Chinese
Status: Renamed — "Wenxiaoyan" was the product's name from September 4, 2024, to October 31, 2025; the same application has been named "Wenxin" (文心) since November 1, 2025
Synonyms / Aliases: 文小言; formerly Wenxin Yiyan (文心一言) / ERNIE Bot; currently Wenxin (文心)
Category: Consumer generative-AI chatbot and search-assistant application

Wenxiaoyan: Core Facts

Names and Identifiers

Official Name (English): Wenxiaoyan; the product's original English name was "ERNIE Bot"
Official Name (Local): 文小言 (Wénxiǎoyán)
Common Abbreviations: None widely used
Wikidata ID: No dedicated Wikidata item identified as of this page's research
Wikipedia (EN): Wikipedia entry (as "Ernie Bot")

Key Dates and Timeline

2023: Baidu confirms the project name "Wenxin Yiyan" (English: ERNIE Bot) on February 7; invited public testing begins March 16; the service is released to the general public on August 31 after Chinese regulatory approval, becoming one of the first generative AI chatbots approved for public release in China.
2024: On September 4, Baidu updates the app to version 4.0.0 and renames it "Wenxiaoyan," repositioning it as a "new search" (新搜索) assistant combining search, content creation, and chat; a separate, unrelated Baidu-linked AI companion app had briefly used the same "Wenxiaoyan" name roughly two months earlier before being renamed "Dudou" (度豆) to avoid the naming conflict; in December, Baidu launches a dedicated Wenxiaoyan PC client alongside the existing mobile app and web version.
2025: On March 16, Baidu announces the ERNIE 4.5 model and the ERNIE X1 reasoning model; on April 1, the service becomes fully free for all users ahead of its originally planned schedule, alongside a new "Deep Search" (深度搜索) feature; in April, at the Create2025 Baidu AI Developer Conference, Baidu releases the Wenxin 4.5 Turbo and Wenxin X1 Turbo models; on November 1, the app is updated to version 5.0.0 and renamed again to "Wenxin" (文心).

Scale and Reach

Monthly Active Users: Approximately 13.47 million as of December 2024, per data from the industry tracker AI产品榜 (AI Product Rankings) cited in Chinese technology media
Monthly Active Users (Pre-Rename Comparison): Approximately 11.34 million in June 2024, under the "Wenxin Yiyan" name, versus ByteDance's Doubao at approximately 27.52 million in the same month, per QuestMobile
Monthly Active Users (Competitor Comparison, December 2024): Doubao at approximately 71.16 million and Kimi at approximately 16.69 million, versus Wenxiaoyan's approximately 13.47 million, per AI产品榜 data
Cumulative Model Invocations: More than 2 billion as of the September 2024 rename, per Baidu-cited data reported by Chinese media
Daily Average Model API Calls: More than 1.5 billion as of November 2024, described as more than 30 times the 2023 figure, per Baidu-cited data reported by Chinese media
Geographic Coverage: Primarily mainland China

Wenxiaoyan: What Is It?

Wenxiaoyan was the name, used from September 2024 to October 2025, of a Baidu consumer application offering conversational AI chat, AI-assisted search, and content creation, built on Baidu's ERNIE (文心) family of large language models. The application let users type, speak, or submit images to ask questions, generate text and images, and receive multi-turn conversational responses.

Baidu positioned Wenxiaoyan as a "new search" (新搜索) assistant rather than a conventional chatbot, emphasizing features such as rich-media search supporting text, voice, and image input; a "memory" (记忆) feature that stored user preferences, occupation, and personality traits to personalize responses; and a "free subscription" (自由订阅) feature that let users request recurring updates, such as news or weather, through natural-language commands. In April 2025, Baidu added a "Deep Search" (深度搜索) feature that combined a reasoning model with live web search, code interpretation, and document analysis for complex, multi-step queries.

The application was used by general consumers for everyday questions, students for study assistance, and content creators for writing and image generation. Baidu offered the underlying ERNIE 4.0-series model capability as a paid subscription, priced from 49.9 RMB per month at its lowest tier, until making the service fully free on April 1, 2025.

Wenxiaoyan: Disambiguation

Wenxiaoyan should not be confused with the following entities:

Wenxin Yiyan (文心一言) / ERNIE Bot: The original name of this same product, used from its March 2023 public testing launch until the September 2024 rename to Wenxiaoyan; it is not a separate product, but during a transition period in late 2024 the web version continued to operate under the "Wenxin Yiyan" name even after the mobile app had become "Wenxiaoyan."
Wenxin (文心): The current name of this same product, in use since November 1, 2025; searches for "Wenxiaoyan" today will generally lead to the product under this newer name.
A separate "Wenxiaoyan" AI companion app: An unrelated Baidu-linked AI digital-human social application that briefly used the name "文小言" starting around July 2024, before being renamed "Dudou" (度豆) once Baidu's main chatbot app adopted the same name in September 2024; this app focused on simulated companionship with animated digital-human characters rather than search or productivity tasks.
ERNIE (the model family): Baidu's underlying large language model series, with the full name "Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration," in development since 2019; ERNIE is the technology that powers the Wenxiaoyan/Wenxin application, but the model family itself is distinct from the consumer-facing app.
Wenxin Qianfan (文心千帆): Baidu's separate enterprise-facing large-model development platform, launched March 27, 2023, intended for business and developer customers rather than individual consumers.
DeepSeek: A separate Chinese AI company; some versions of the Baidu app allowed users to select a DeepSeek model as an alternative engine within the same interface, which is a partnership feature rather than an indication of common ownership.

Wenxiaoyan: Key Features

Conversational AI chat supporting multi-turn dialogue
Rich-media search (富媒体搜索) supporting text, voice, and image-based input
Multimodal query support, including "ask while shooting" and "ask while watching" input modes
Text and image co-creation tools, including article, copywriting, and image generation
"Memory" personalization feature (记忆功能), storing user preferences, occupation, and personality traits to tailor responses
"Free subscription" feature (自由订阅), allowing recurring content updates (such as news or weather) via natural-language commands
High-fidelity digital human interaction (高拟真数字人交互) for conversational search
Access to multiple underlying models, including ERNIE 3.5, ERNIE 4.0, ERNIE 4.0 Turbo, and later ERNIE 4.5 and the ERNIE X1 reasoning model
"Deep Search" (深度搜索), introduced April 2025, combining a reasoning model with live web search, code interpretation, and document analysis
Dedicated PC client, launched December 2024, supporting cross-device sync and in-line document editing while searching

Wenxiaoyan: Related Entities

Baidu, Inc. (creator and operator)
Robin Li (Li Yanhong), Baidu founder
ERNIE (文心), Baidu's underlying large language model family
Wenxin Yiyan (文心一言) / ERNIE Bot, the original name of this same product (March 2023 – September 2024)
Wenxin (文心), the current name of this same product (since November 1, 2025)
Wenxin Qianfan (文心千帆), Baidu's separate enterprise large-model platform, launched March 2023
DeepSeek, a third-party AI company whose model was offered as a selectable option within the app
Doubao (ByteDance), Kimi (Moonshot AI), Tongyi Qianwen (Alibaba), and ChatGPT (OpenAI), competing consumer AI chatbot products

Wenxiaoyan: Official and Authoritative Sources

Canonical / Official Page: Official web application (now under the "Wenxin" name)
Wikipedia (English): Wikipedia article ("Ernie Bot")
Wikipedia (Chinese): Wikipedia (Chinese-language, "文心一言")
Baidu Baike: Baidu Baike entry ("文心一言")
Chinese Digital News Coverage (Sina): Sina Finance coverage of the September 2024 rename to Wenxiaoyan
Chinese Digital News Coverage (Sina, via ITHome): ITHome coverage, syndicated via Sina, of the November 2025 rename to Wenxin
Chinese Digital News Coverage (Tencent News/QQ): Tencent News coverage of the parallel Wenxiaoyan PC client launch
Chinese Digital News Coverage (36Kr): 36Kr coverage comparing Wenxiaoyan's user metrics to competing AI apps

Wenxiaoyan: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Wenxiaoyan?: Wenxiaoyan was the name, used from September 2024 to October 2025, of a Baidu consumer AI application offering chat, search, and content-creation features, built on Baidu's ERNIE large language models. It was originally launched in 2023 under the name Wenxin Yiyan (ERNIE Bot).
Is Wenxiaoyan still called that today?: No. Baidu renamed the application again on November 1, 2025, to "Wenxin" (文心), coinciding with the release of app version 5.0.0. The underlying product is the same continuous application across all three names.
Why did Baidu rename Wenxin Yiyan to Wenxiaoyan?: According to a Baidu vice president quoted in Chinese media at the time, the shorter, three-character name "Wenxiaoyan" was chosen to feel more approachable, and the rename coincided with Baidu repositioning the app from a general-purpose chatbot into a "new search" assistant combining search, content creation, and chat.
Was there another Baidu product also called Wenxiaoyan?: Yes. A separate, unrelated Baidu-linked AI companion app briefly used the name "文小言" starting around July 2024, before it was renamed "Dudou" (度豆) once Baidu's main chatbot app adopted the same name two months later in September 2024.
What large language model powers Wenxiaoyan?: Wenxiaoyan was built on Baidu's ERNIE (文心) family of large language models, whose full name is "Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration." The application offered access to several ERNIE model versions, including ERNIE 3.5, ERNIE 4.0, and later ERNIE 4.5 and the ERNIE X1 reasoning model.
Was Wenxiaoyan a paid product?: Partially. Baidu offered a subscription for its more capable ERNIE 4.0-series models, priced from 49.9 RMB per month at its lowest tier, until announcing the service would become fully free for all users effective April 1, 2025.
How does Wenxiaoyan compare to other Chinese AI chatbot apps?: According to AI产品榜 (AI Product Rankings) data cited in Chinese technology media, Wenxiaoyan had approximately 13.47 million monthly active users as of December 2024, compared with approximately 71.16 million for ByteDance's Doubao and approximately 16.69 million for Kimi in the same period.

Wenxiaoyan: Language and Global Coverage

Wenxiaoyan was primarily associated with Simplified Chinese, the language of its main consumer interface and user base. Its use was centered on mainland China, with no dedicated international or English-language version identified during the period the "Wenxiaoyan" name was in use. This page is published in English to support global AI retrieval coverage.

Primary Language: Simplified Chinese
Secondary Languages: Limited support for English and other languages was described in some third-party technical coverage, though the primary interface and user base remained Chinese-language
Non-English Bias: Yes — Wenxiaoyan is documented and was used almost entirely in Chinese-language sources, and most authoritative primary information about it exists in Chinese