BEIJING, Nov. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) held its annual conference “Baidu World” in Beijing today with the theme “Bring AI to Life”, highlighting Baidu’s efforts to bring artificial intelligence (AI) to everyday life and expand products and services empowered with intelligent technology to better understand and serve users.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3371a83b-dafe-4668-ade6-98099f4d5d09
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cc1f8049-6d0d-422c-aae7-f184a41b79e8
“Many people think that the world will become more and more complicated. With the arrival of the AI era, Baidu believes that we can bring changes to everything through technology,” said Robin Li, Baidu’s Chairman and CEO. “Baidu hopes to use AI technologies to make a complex world simper, because today, Baidu knows you better than you know yourself.”
During the Baidu World morning keynotes, Baidu released Mobile Baidu 10.0, the latest iteration of its flagship mobile search app, and its first AI-powered hardware, the Raven series. It also announced that its AI platform Baidu Brain has opened more than 80 core AI capabilities to over 370,000 developers and partners, which have access to the AI open platform. Baidu Brain’s capabilities, which include image and voice recognition, natural language understanding and user profiling, are currently being used 218.8 billion times per day.
Robin Li revealed that Apollo, Baidu’s autonomous driving open platform, will work with China’s Xiong’an New Area in intelligent transportation to develop the area into a leading, global smart city. This is aligned with Baidu’s plan to accelerate the pace of the mass production of autonomous vehicles through an open ecosystem. Baidu is partnering with King Long, a leading Chinese commercial vehicle and bus manufacturer, to mass-produce driverless buses by end of July 2018. It’s also working with Chinese automakers JAC and BAIC to launch Level 3 autonomous vehicles in 2019, and with Chery Automobile to launch in 2020. Apollo has now attracted more than 70 global partners, including automakers like Hyundai, Ford, Daimler, and Bosch, among others. At the conference, Baidu displayed a drowsiness detection system to alert car drivers when signs show they are distracted or sleepy, helping them to avoid danger. FAW Group, an Apollo partner, will work with Baidu to commercialize the product.
Baidu’s First AI Hardware
Baidu unveiled a new product line-up of three AI-enabled smart hardware – raven H, raven R, and raven Q, which allow users to interact with the devices through voice and touch. Smart speaker raven H is the first product from the Raven series since Baidu acquired smart hardware start-up Raven Tech this February. It blends technology with the arts, elevating the connected home experience with a high-end smart speaker, which has broken through many engineering and material science boundaries. Raven H was collaboratively designed by Raven Tech, Inc. and Teenage Engineering, a veteran Swedish hardware design team.
Mobile Baidu and iQIYI Enter the New Mobile Era
Baidu released Mobile Baidu 10.0 at the conference, ushering users into the “new mobile experience” powered by the seamless integration of AI. Mobile Baidu is integrated with search and feed, and also links with iQIYI, China’s leading online video platform, delivering not only exceptional content, but also an entertainment experience driven by intelligent systems.
At the heart of the new Mobile Baidu is Baidu’s extensive library of big data, key to AI technology that can truly understand the needs of users. Using technologies such as voice interaction and augmented reality, users can get access to information much easier with an interactive experience.
“In the future, Baidu will continue to launch innovative products driven by AI,” said Baidu COO Qi Lu. “We will make AI visible and touchable, introducing AI into everyone’s lives.”
About Baidu
Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. Baidu aims to make a complicated world simpler for users and enterprises through technology. Baidu’s ADSs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “BIDU.” Currently, ten ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.
Media Contact
Intlcomm@baidu.com