Baidu, Inc.
BIDU
recently unveiled new products and services based on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies at the annual Baidu World Conference in Beijing.
In regard to this, the company revealed a few upgrades in the self-driving space. It stated that its autonomous vehicles have conducted 6 million kilometers of open road tests and carried 100,000 passengers across 27 cities without any accidents.
In addition, it showcased an autonomous robotaxi, which could carry passengers without a backup driver. The robotaxi supports new autonomous valet parking and 5G remote driving features, allowing human drivers to remotely control vehicles in case of emergencies.
All these technologies are built on Baidu’s open-source software platform, Apollo. As of now, Apollo has already attracted more than 100 global partners including OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, developer platforms and technology startups.
In addition, Baidu introduced the latest version of conversational AI system – DuerOS 6.0. The company unveiled its first portable consumer electronics product, XiaoduPods, which is powered by Baidu’s DuerOS 6.0.
The product will expand Baidu’s reach beyond smart speakers and screens into many new applications.
In addition to these, the company released the upgraded Baidu Brain 6.0, the underlying AI infrastructure for Baidu’s industrial applications and cloud platform.
The expanding investment is in line with its strategy of strengthening presence in AI. In addition, the investment would help it compete against rivals such as Alibaba
BABA
, Tencent, Amazon
AMZN
and Alphabet
GOOGL
, among others, in these emerging markets.
Baidu’s Investment Relevant at the Present Time
The company is fast becoming the most significant and dominant general purpose technology. The coronavirus crisis, which has been disrupting many industries, may actually speed up the adoption of AI. After all, AI has touched almost every sphere, including advertising, healthcare, robotics, retail, video streaming, gaming and urban development.
The AI market, anyhow, is poised to see 46.2% average annual growth rate between 2019 and 2025, per Grand View Research.
In addition, 5G is set to proliferate in 2020. The fifth-generation mobile network is touted to revolutionize the way we interact with technology, thereby facilitating faster download speeds and seamless transfer of data. Notably, 5G is expected to further facilitate rapid adoption of IoT and connected smart-based devices, along with emerging applications like AR, VR and AI. Moreover, 5G empowers advanced technologies in the IoT space, for instance, extending sensor-driven IoT capabilities to drones, actuators and robots.
As such, the 5G infrastructure market is expected to witness a CAGR of 67.1% and reach $47.78 billion by 2027, per a Research and Markets report.
Hence, Baidu’s decision to focus on these growing technologies makes complete sense.
Bottom Line
This latest move underscores Baidu’s growing interest in these highly promising spaces. It appears that the company is flexing muscles to leverage the concept of consumer convenience in a bid to impress both customers and investors.
Zacks Rank
Currently, Baidu carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
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