History of Baidu
Baidu, founded in 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu, is China's leading search engine and a major player in artificial intelligence (AI) and internet services. The company was established in Beijing, inspired by Li's earlier work on search algorithms. It quickly became the dominant search engine in China, surpassing competitors like Google, which later withdrew from the Chinese market in 2010 due to censorship concerns. Baidu expanded beyond search, developing services like Baidu Maps, Baidu Cloud, and an AI-powered voice assistant, DuerOS.
In recent years, Baidu has shifted its focus toward AI, autonomous driving, and cloud computing. The company launched Apollo, an open-source autonomous driving platform, and heavily invested in AI research, competing with global tech giants. Despite facing regulatory challenges and competition from rivals like Alibaba and Tencent, Baidu remains a key player in China's technology landscape.