China's Baidu posts rise in Q1 revenue as seeks to grow AI presence / Photo: Jade GAO - AFP/File
-
Basil Tuma Scores First Senior Goal as Malta Draws with Ten-Man Eswatini
-
RSC’s ‘Julius Caesar’ Reimagined in Women’s Prison Setting for School Tour
-
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Announced; Attendance List Shrinks
-
Thomson Reuters Integrates CUBE Regulatory Intelligence into CoCounsel Legal
-
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - November 13
-
How Families Plan and Save for Holiday Travel
-
Below Deck alumnus João Franco and brother arrested after fatal Turkey fight
-
Ole Miss inquiry expands after video and monkey-noise allegations
-
Thousands of Urban Homes Left Without High-Speed Internet Due to Broadband Blackspots
-
General Hospital actor Randall England dies at 75
-
Bunnie XO artwork taken down from Jelly Roll’s Nashville bar
-
London museum removes Russell Brand hair exhibit after rape conviction
-
Arlington sentinel rebukes Pete Hegseth entourage for laughter near memorial
-
Yella Beezy sentenced to life for arranging rapper Mo3’s murder
-
Kylie Jenner employee describes closet ordeal and pepper-spray incident
-
Authorities to identify Montauk Mary and five other Long Island cold-case victims
-
Davante Adams injury deepens Los Angeles Rams receiver shortage
-
Barbie sequel negotiations stall over reported $25 million pay packages
-
João Franco’s earlier post draws attention after arrest over fatal Turkey brawl
-
Bath & Body Works launches buy-one-get-one-free candle offer
-
Alberta Launches $5M Fund for Women’s Neurology Research to Address Gender Gaps
-
Itlu Arjuna receives U/A certificate ahead of theatrical release
-
Dhananjaya de Silva guides Sri Lanka to 221-4 against Pakistan
-
Niraj Kumar earns Los Angeles Olympic quota with 50m rifle bronze
-
Delhi gold loses Rs 800 while silver falls Rs 5,000
-
India extends micro-credit guarantee plan for five years
-
Madlanga Commission Deadline Extended to 2027 Amid Calls for Structural Justice Reform
-
Pradeep Antony, Smeha Manimegalai portray secret spouses in Mr & Mrs Office
-
Zelenskyy arrives in Dublin for meetings on Ukraine and peace efforts
-
Woman barred from every Greggs outlet after series of offences
-
Jury hears social-media image helped identify teen in Scarlett Faulkner case
-
Ketchup packets link suspect to break-in at Eddie Rocket’s restaurant
China's Baidu posts rise in Q1 revenue as seeks to grow AI presence
Chinese internet giant Baidu on Wednesday posted a quarterly revenue increase of three percent, as the firm seeks to grow its presence in artificial intelligence and expand its robotaxi business abroad.
The Beijing-based firm operates China's main search engine and has long been a key player in the domestic tech industry -- but faces stiff competition both from traditional rivals like Tencent and Alibaba and a host of newer upstarts.
Baidu derives a large part of its revenue from advertising, a sector vulnerable to fluctuations in consumer sentiment, and has sought to diversify with cloud computing, self-driving cars and AI.
The firm achieved revenue of 32.45 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, up 3 percent year-on-year, according to an earnings report released Wednesday on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website.
Net income during the first quarter reached 7.72 billion yuan, up 42 percent year-on-year.
China's consumer-facing AI sector attracted global attention after startup DeepSeek released a model that performed comparably to competitors such as US-made ChatGPT, apparently at a much lower developing cost.
In March, Baidu announced the launch of its latest X1 reasoning model -- which the company claims performs similarly to DeepSeek's but for a lower cost -- and a new foundation model, Ernie 4.5.
Baidu has also axed subscriptions for its AI chatbot Ernie Bot, making it free for individual users.
"We are confident that our AI-first strategy positions us to remain at the forefront and to capture long-term growth opportunities in the AI era," said Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu, in the filing.
"We also achieved a pivotal milestone in our robotaxi business, as Apollo Go expanded internationally," Li added.
In March Baidu announced it had signed an agreement to launch autonomous driving tests and services in Dubai, Apollo Go's first international fleet deployment.
The company also plans to start testing self-driving taxis in Europe by the end of this year, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to AFP earlier this month.
The company will also start testing in Turkey, they said.
P.Mathewson--AMWN
