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4mo ago

Baidu Reports Strong Q1 Growth, Expands Global AI and Robotaxi Operations

The Chinese tech giant posted a 42% surge in net income, driven by AI Cloud growth and international robotaxi deployments, while grappling with declining ad revenues and U.S. chip export restrictions.

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Baidu 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
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Overview

  • Baidu achieved Q1 2025 revenue of 32.45 billion yuan, a 3% year-on-year increase, with net income rising 42% to 7.72 billion yuan.
  • AI Cloud revenue surged 42% year-on-year, reflecting strong enterprise adoption as Baidu shifts focus from its core advertising business, which saw a 6% decline.
  • Apollo Go robotaxi service completed 1.4 million rides globally in Q1, a 75% year-on-year increase, and surpassed 11 million cumulative rides since its 2019 launch.
  • The company launched its first international robotaxi operations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with plans to test in Europe and Turkey later this year.
  • Geopolitical tensions over U.S. chip export restrictions, particularly guidance against Huawei’s AI chips, pose potential risks to Baidu’s hardware supply chain.