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Business Leader of the Week: Robin Li-led Baidu bolsters its AI line-up through I-RAG

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Google co-founder Larry Page filed a patent for the PageRank search algorithm, in 1998, which referenced Robin Li's work on RankDex

Chinese tech conglomerate Baidu, in November 2024, unveiled a slew of new applications for its artificial intelligence technology, including an enhanced text-to-image generation technology and a tool that enables users to develop software applications without coding expertise.

The country’s leading search engine company, which also provides a wide variety of other internet-based services like Baidu App, Baidu Baike, iQIYI and Baidu Tieba, has now entered the list of tech firms shifting their focus to the commercialisation of large language model (LLM) applications to rival OpenAI’s GPT.

At the annual Baidu World Conference, CEO Robin Li introduced I-RAG, a text-to-image technology that leverages Baidu’s search capabilities to address the “hallucination” issue, referring to generating images that deviate from the input text or contain non-existent elements. Li also said Baidu’s Ernie platform now handles 1.5 billion user queries and interactions daily, a significant increase from the 200 million daily requests reported in May 2024. These interactions include tasks like generating text, answering questions, and assisting with various applications utilising AI.

Baidu’s commercialisation efforts have largely revolved around its AI agents, which allow users to create their own applications. The technology has also gone into the company’s existing product lineup. Meanwhile, among other announcements, Baidu also unveiled a pair of glasses featuring a built-in AI assistant, developed by its hardware division, Xiaodu.

The gadget is equipped with cameras to capture photos and videos and supports voice interactions powered by Ernie. However, Robin Li told the media that the Chinese tech conglomerate was not aiming to create an AI-powered “super app,” signalling a divergence in strategy from rivals like ByteDance, which has launched multiple standalone AI apps in 2024.

Baidu also introduced Miaoda, which utilises its LLM capabilities to generate code, allowing users to develop software applications without extensive coding expertise. As per Robin Li, Xiaodu’s smart glasses would “become a private assistant” for the users. The glasses will enable wearers to track calorie consumption, ask questions about their environment, play music and shoot videos.

Despite China lagging behind the United States in developing the most powerful large language models, experts believe that the Chinese tech groups can leverage the country’s sophisticated electronics sector to develop competitive consumer hardware integrated with AI.

Baidu’s entry into the smart glass market comes at a time when American tech giants like Meta and Snap are rushing to dominate the wider global market. Meta has teamed up with Ray-Ban on a series of smart glasses, with a pair selling for as much as USD 379. However, these products are not available for sale in China. Baidu’s smart glasses, on the other hand, are expected to go on sale in China in 2025.

While Xiaodu has embedded Ernie Bot into existing products, including a virtual dashboard for families to help monitor elderly relatives, who can talk to AI doctors and receive reminders to take medication through a device, other Chinese tech companies are coming up with innovations. In October 2024, TikTok owner ByteDance launched its first pair of earbuds, which allow users to talk directly to the company’s Doubao chatbot without using their smartphone.

“The magic that Chinese technology companies have consistently displayed is coming up with compelling consumer products at competitive price points. This will give them an edge over foreign companies in integrating AI into useful applications at scale,” said Paul Triolo, partner and global tech policy lead at consultancy Albright Stonebridge Group, while interacting with the Financial Times.

Who Is Robin Li?

Robin Li Yanhong is a Chinese software engineer and billionaire internet entrepreneur who is the co-founder and CEO of Baidu. As of June 2023, his net worth (estimated by Forbes) stood at USD 8.6 billion.

He studied information management at Peking University and computer science at the University at Buffalo. In 1996, he created RankDex (the leading internet search provider from 1996-2001 until Baidu was launched in China). In 2000, he founded Baidu with Eric Xu.

Robin Li has been CEO of Baidu since January 2004. The company was listed on NASDAQ on August 5, 2005 and in 2007, made its debut in the NASDAQ-100 Index.

During the 1990s, Li worked in IDD Information Services, a New Jersey division of Dow Jones and Company, where he helped develop a software programme for the online edition of The Wall Street Journal. He also worked on improving algorithms for internet search engines. In 1996, while at IDD, Li created the Rankdex site-scoring algorithm for search engine page ranking. Google co-founder Larry Page filed a patent for the PageRank search algorithm, in 1998, which referenced Robin Li’s work on RankDex. He later used the same technology for the Baidu search engine.

Robin Li also worked as a staff engineer for Infoseek, a pioneer internet search engine company, from 1997 to 1999. During this nearly three-year stint, he invented the picture search function used by Go.com. Since Baidu’s inception in January 2000, under Li’s visionary leadership, the company has transformed itself into the largest Chinese search engine, with over 80% market share by search query, and the second largest independent search engine in the world.

In 2001, Li was named one of the “Chinese Top Ten Innovative Pioneers”. In 2002 and 2003, he was named one of the “IT Ten Famous Persons”. In April 2004, he was named in the second session of “Chinese Software Ten Outstanding Young Persons”. In December 2005, he was named one of the “CCTV 2005 Chinese Economic Figures of The Year”.

In August 2014, Li became the co-chair of the Independent Expert Advisory Group on Data Revolution for Sustainable Development.

Li’s Take On AI-Powered Tech Sector’s Future

The Baidu boss, in October 2024, proclaimed that hallucinations produced by large language models are no longer a problem, apart from predicting a massive wipeout of AI start-ups when the “bubble” bursts.

“The most significant change we’re seeing over the past 18 to 20 months is the accuracy of those answers from the large language models. I think over the past 18 months, that problem has pretty much been solved – meaning when you talk to a chatbot, a frontier model-based chatbot, you can basically trust the answer,” he stated during the Harvard Business Review Future of Business Conference.

Describing the AI sector going through an “inevitable bubble” kind of phase, similar to the dot-com bubble in the 1990s, Li remarked further, “Probably one per cent of the companies will stand out and become huge and will create a lot of value or will create tremendous value for the people, for the society. And I think we are just going through this kind of process.”

Robin Li’s remarks come at a time when Generative AI has remained a hot topic following its initial (post-2022) surge, driven by companies like OpenAI and Nvidia. Talking about Nvidia, the venture which produces the hardware that most AI companies depend on, is now giving a tough fight to Tim Cook-led Apple in the race to become the world’s most valuable company. Other tech giants like Microsoft (principal backer of OpenAI) and Google are also integrating AI into nearly all of their future products.

He also believes the AI market will become quieter but healthier in 2024. Although some businesses and investors maintain high hopes for AI, others are showing more caution.

A September 2024 report from IDC Research shows that people aren’t purchasing PCs with AI-focused hardware due to a specific interest in AI, but rather because the latest models from major vendors come equipped with the technology by default.

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