Baidu Faces Revenue Challenges Amid Economic Slowdown and AI Monetization Struggles

The Chinese tech giant reports flat Q2 revenue as advertising declines and AI integration impacts ad placements.

Baidu's core advertising revenue fell by 2% in Q2, contributing to overall flat revenue of 33.93 billion yuan.
Net income rose 5% to 5.5 billion yuan, despite the economic headwinds and competitive pressures.
The company's AI Cloud business grew by 10%, driven by generative AI applications like the Ernie Bot.
Baidu's autonomous vehicle division, Apollo Go, saw a 26% increase in rides but has yet to significantly impact revenue.
Analysts remain cautious about Baidu's outlook due to China's sluggish economic recovery and increased competition from social media platforms.