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Baidu’s Live-Streaming Hopes Hit by Lapse of $3.6 Billion Deal to Buy JOYY's

Baidu’s Live-Streaming Hopes Hit by Lapse of $3.6 Billion Deal to Buy JOYY’s

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The $3.6 billion agreement to purchase Joyy Inc.’s live-streaming company, YY Live, has expired, which is a major blow to Baidu Inc.’s ambitious entry into the live-streaming market. The agreement, which was announced in November 2020 to expand Baidu’s content offerings and diversify revenue sources, has expired due to difficulties in gaining regulatory permits.

The deal’s collapse was verified in a filing on Monday, which blamed the termination on the inability to get the required regulatory clearances by December 31. The agreement, which was started three years ago, was supposed to be completed in the first half of 2021. Due to unfulfilled terms, Baidu’s affiliate Moon SPV legally cancelled the share purchase agreement. This is a serious blow to Baidu’s aspirations to compete with emerging players in the online entertainment market, such as ByteDance Ltd.

Baidu’s Live-Streaming Hopes Hit by Lapse of $3.6 Billion Deal to Buy JOYY's

Image Source: news.yahoo.com

The purpose of Baidu’s calculated acquisition of Joyy’s live-streaming company was to improve its content portfolio. But because generative artificial intelligence has taken centre stage in the quickly changing tech world, Baidu’s foray into the live-streaming market will undoubtedly be difficult.

Visionary Leadership and Strategic Collaboration

A further layer of uncertainty was introduced when Joyy said in a separate announcement that it intended to consult with legal counsel and look at alternatives for concluding its agreement with Baidu.

Joyy, a leader in Chinese live-streaming, has a sizable user base, 1.61 million paying customers worldwide are drawn to its networks for sharing films and live-streaming games. China’s regulatory landscape has become more stringent, meanwhile, with officials closely examining multibillion-dollar transactions due to worries about the fast rise of the private sector and power consolidation.

Under the direction of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has been tackling problems associated with gaming addiction, enforcing regulations for minors in online entertainment, and halting the clearance process for new game titles. In light of this, regulators probably exercised caution while authorising Baidu’s agreement with Joyy.

Also Read: How to Find Your Apple ID on iPhone, iPad, or Mac?

Although Beijing appears to be loosening its restrictions on the internet sector in an effort to boost economic growth, Baidu’s recent failure highlights the difficulties encountered by digital behemoths looking to thrive in an environment where regulations are still stringent and discriminating.

With this development, Baidu has more obstacles to overcome in its quest for supremacy in the fast-paced and fiercely competitive online entertainment market.

Baidu Says Its AI as Good as ChatGPT in Big Claim for China

Baidu Says Its AI as Good as ChatGPT in Big Claim for China

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Robin Li, the founder of Baidu Inc., announced that his business’s large language model (LLM) has now become as better as OpenAI’s sophisticated GPT-4, taking the forefront in his nation’s quest to create artificial intelligence that can compete with the United States.

Baidu Says Its AI as Good as ChatGPT in Big Claim for China
Image Source: biztechafrica.com

on Tuesday in Beijing, the multibillionaire put Ernie 4.0 through a round of questions and answers to demonstrate its ability to respond to questions and resolve challenges instantly. In terms of complexity and all-around capabilities, Ernie has equaled OpenAI’s pioneering offering, Li told a crowded auditorium that was formerly a steel mill.

Despite the US bot launching months before, the flagship Ernie chatbot has already exceeded 45 million users, an accomplishment that still needs to catch up to ChatGPT’s anticipated 180 million users. The company that dominates Chinese search, frequently described as a domestic Google, is counting on artificial intelligence to help it outcompete competitors that dominate other parts of the internet, such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. On Tuesday, stocks of Baidu fell by approximately 1.5 percent.

Following ChatGPT’s demonstration of the potentially disruptive capabilities of generative AI, which can create video and content from straightforward inputs, Baidu is at the forefront of a wave of massive investments throughout China. It is recognized as a frontrunner in the competition to develop a cutting-edge platform for the largest internet marketplace around the world, which also involves several startups and significant local IT companies.

They are trying to catch up with American companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Google to provide support such as ChatGPT as well as Dall-E, but Beijing’s severe restrictions and US sanctions restricting Chinese utilization of the most cutting-edge processors for training and running artificial intelligence models might cast a shadow over their chances. This concern is being fueled by Washington’s strengthening of restrictions on the importation of AI technology.

Also Read: LinkedIn Cuts 668 Jobs in Second Round of Layoffs This Year

Li informed the crowd that Ernie is not inferior to GPT-4 in any way.

Given their extreme complexity, AI models are difficult to evaluate. Li tested the most recent iteration of Ernie Bot in real-time. He instructed it to create a book on the realm of old martial arts while posing math problems and asking questions about things like buying real estate.

This is a sharp contrast to the prepared film the tech tycoon released in March to introduce China’s initial response to OpenAI’s popular bot.

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Baidu sues Apple, app developers over fake Ernie bot apps

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The Chinese search engine Baidu has filed a lawsuit against Apple & “relevant” app developers allegedly selling counterfeit versions of its newly released Ernie bot application on the App Store. The artificial intelligence-powered chatbot Ernie has been regarded as the most competitive substitute for the US-developed ChatGPT in China.

Baidu
Image Source: lbcgroup.tv

ChatGPT’s immediate rival is Baidu’s Ernie chatbot. It is a Baidu AI product that has reportedly been in production since 2019. Yet it was only made available a short time after ChatGPT went global.

Also Read: Amazon plans to trim employee stock awards amid tough economy

According to the business, Ernie is fully capable of processing natural language and can converse, answer questions live online, write articles, write codes, etc.

On Friday, Baidu declared that it has registered cases in Haidian People’s Court, Beijing, against Apple and also the app developers who created the knockoff editions of its Ernie bot. There isn’t yet an official Ernie app accessible, according to a comment from Baidu on its main “Baidu AI” WeChat account.

“At present, Ernie does not have any official app,” Baidu said in a statement late on Friday posted on its official “Baidu AI” WeChat account.

“Until our company’s official announcement, any Ernie app you see from App Store or other stores are fake,” it said.

Source: reuters.com

Baidu also uploaded a picture of its court document, emphasizing that until a formal notice is made, any Ernie apps that seem to be accessible through the App Store or any other stores are fake.

Apple has not made any comment on the circumstances yet. According to a search done by Reuters on Saturday, at least four applications with the Mandarin name “Ernie bot” are still available on the App Store, but they are all fake.

As per Baidu, those who have gotten legitimate access codes are the only ones who can access the Ernie bot. In its comment, the business also issued a warning against people who try to sell access codes.

Also Read: Meta releases AI model that can identify items within images

The AI-backed chatbot known as Ernie, meaning “Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration,” was introduced by Baidu in March of this year. Because of the popularity of ChatGPT powered by Microsoft, Chinese businesses and tech companies are racing to develop a rival.

Baidu’s cloud platform currently enables businesses to include the bot in their services by submitting a request. Originally, the Ernie bot was only obtainable to a small set of customers with invitation credentials.

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China’s Baidu to launch ChatGPT-style bot in March

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As per a person with knowledge of the matter, Baidu is preparing to launch an artificial intelligence chatbot system similar to ChatGPT by OpenAI, possibly becoming China’s greatest influential entrance in a race sparked by the tech trend.

According to the person who requested anonymity to describe personal information, China’s biggest search engine firm plans to launch a ChatGPT-style software in March, at first incorporating it within its primary search services. The unnamed tool will provide users with chat-style search results similar to OpenAI’s popular service.

Baidu
Image Source: tribune.com.pk

Baidu has invested billions of dollars in artificial intelligence research in a multi-year attempt to transform from internet advertising to profound technology.

According to the source, the Ernie system is a big-scale machine-learning framework that has been specialized in data for several years. It will serve as the foundation for its impending ChatGPT-like tool. A delegate for Baidu declined to answer questions.

Also Read: BuzzFeed will use ChatGPT bots instead of writers

Since its public debut in November, ChatGPT which is the OpenAI’s artificial intelligence software has captured the internet, accumulating over a million users in days as well as sparking a debate about the importance of AI in schools, offices, and homes.

Firms such as Microsoft are putting in billions of dollars to try to develop practical applications, while others are using a lot of buzz to obtain financing. Buzzfeed’s stock massively increased this month just after the company unveiled its plans to include ChatGPT within its content.

Baidu, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding, and ByteDance control a large portion of the Chinese internet. The search company has been attempting to resurrect progress in the mobile world, after falling behind its larger competitors in areas such as mobile advertising, video, as well as social media. Aside from AI research, Google is now working on technology for autonomous driving.

Also Read: Quora introduces Poe, a way to talk to AI chatbots like ChatGPT

ChatGPT caught the attention of Chinese online consumers, who, like others, disclosed screenshots of unexpected discussions with the Artificial Intelligence bot on local social networking sites.

Even after a highly censored residential internet which is largely disconnected from the remaining of the world, businesses like Baidu have thrived as native alternatives to Google, Amazon, as well as Facebook.

Aside from Baidu, many Chinese start-ups are experimenting with generative Artificial Intelligence and have captivated shareholders including Sequoia & Sinovation Ventures.

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Baidu gets license for driverless robotaxi tests in Beijing

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On Friday, Baidu Inc. said that it had received the first license to test autonomous cars on Beijing’s roads and that it would expand its network of robotaxi by 200 in the upcoming year.

robotaxi
Image Source: yahoo.com

The startup Pony. ai, which is sponsored by Toyota Motor Corp. and Baidu Inc., announced on Friday that it had been given the first permits to test completely autonomous vehicles in Beijing without the use of safety controllers as a backup.

As a first step toward providing commercial robotaxi services in the Chinese capital, Baidu and Pony.ai said that they would each start testing 10 autonomous vehicles in a technological park built by the Beijing government.

Over the last five years, Beijing-based Baidu, which derives the majority of its earnings from its online search engine, has concentrated on self-driving technologies in an effort to diversify. Last year, it began charging for its robotaxi service Apollo Go.

A robotaxi journey is expected to eventually cost approximately half as much as a trip in a commercial vehicle with a driver, according to the prediction.

In the upcoming year, the company announced that it would expand its network of robotaxis in China by 200 more.

Apollo Go, which runs without a safety driver in Wuhan and Chongqing, provided a total of 1.4 million driverless rides at the end of the third quarter, according to Baidu. In Guangzhou, where it runs a taxi service, rival Pony.ai, which has operations in both China and the US, has been developing autonomous drive systems.

Additionally, it is testing self-driving cars in Arizona and California while using safety drivers as a backup. Despite the aggressive implementation timetable expected a few years ago, manufacturers outside of China have backed off, and regulatory barriers have emerged, even as Chinese companies strive for self-driving cars.

Three years after CEO Elon Musk said the business was on schedule to produce a fleet of a million robotaxis, Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” technology needs a human behind the wheel who is prepared to take charge.

Due to claims that its electric vehicles can run themselves, Tesla is currently the subject of a criminal probe in the US. The robotaxi division of General Motors Co, Cruise, has announced intentions to expand its service throughout San Francisco and other American cities and to add thousands of automated cars in the upcoming year.

Following incidents in which the vehicles braked improperly or were immobilized, U.S. auto safety officials announced earlier this month that they had launched a safety inquiry into the autonomous driving system utilized by Cruise.

After determining that the mass implementation of a commercial automated drive system would require more money and time than the companies anticipated when they joined together in 2019, Ford Motor and Volkswagen AG closed down their collaborative self-driving company, Argo AI, in October.

A fault led to a test vehicle colliding with a traffic median in California, according to an informal investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety, and Pony.ai agreed to fix a version of its automated driving software in the US in March.

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Robin Li : The Founder of Baidu, the “Google of China”

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The emergence of the Internet opened new ways for everyone, especially for them who were innovative and wanted to create something big. It also helped those who had no resources as a child, but later, reached the heights of success. The rags to riches stories are interesting and inspire people to fight with their situations and face the struggle. One such person who presents the most appropriate rags to riches story is Robin Li, an internet entrepreneur from China, who once faced the worst financial conditions and now is one of the richest men in China. He is the founder of the multinational company Baidu, which is the owner of China’s biggest search engine, with the same name.

Early Life

Robin Li was born on 17 November 1968 in Yangquan, Shanxi, China in a labour family. He was a single boy among the five children of his parents. The Shanxi province was an underdeveloped area, and there were no good resources of education. But still, Li tried his best and on the advice of his mother, worked hard to get a better education. Ultimately, he was able to crack the entrance exam for Peking University, Beijing, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in library information management.

After completing his bachelor’s degree, the next step was to get a job. He worked in a company in Beijing for one and a half year, but fortunately got admission to a Fellowship program at the State University of New York. He moved to New York and completed a master’s degree in science from the university in 1994. He was enrolled in the PhD program in computer science but did not complete his doctorate.

Career

Robin Li
Image Source: buffalo.edu

As soon Robin Li completed his master’s he joined Dow Jones and Company’s IDD Information Services as a software engineer. At IDD, he became the part of the development team, which was working on software program for the online edition of The Wall Street Journal. Here he also got the chance to work on the search engine algorithms as well.

While working at IDD, he started working on page-ranking algorithms, and ultimately developed Rankdex, the first web search engine with page-ranking and site-scoring algorithms that means, it used hyperlinks to check the quality of a website. Rankdex later became the inspiration for Google’s PageRank algorithm.

After Li successfully developed Rankdex and got the U.S. patent for its ranking algorithm, he left his job at IDD, in 1997. He then, joined Infoseek, another internet company that was working on search engine algorithms. During his time at Infoseek, he developed a new function for Go.com, through which it could do image-based searches. Here he worked for two years and left the job in 1999.

Founding Baidu

Robin Li moved back to China, to work on his own product and in 2000, he developed Baidu with the help of his friend Eric Xu. The two used the same algorithm as of Rankdex to develop Baidu. Li did not have a permanent apartment in China at that time and did all the coding work and the launch of Baidu from a hotel room near Peking University. Li became the Chairman of the company and Xu was appointed as the CEO.

In 2001, Baidu offered people to bid for putting ads on the search engine. This led to the monetization as well as the growth of the company. Baidu was an instant hit, and Li was named among the “Chinese Top Ten Innovative Pioneers” in the same year. In 2003, the company introduced image-based searches as well as a news search engine.

In 2004, Xu resigned from his post as CEO, and Li held the position. The next year, Li took Baidu to NASDAQ, and the value of its every share raised by 350 per cent, i.e., from $27 to $122. In December 2007, Baidu was listed in the NASDAQ-100, becoming the first Chinese company to do so. In the same year, Li was named in CNN Money’s annual list of “50 people who matter now”.

By 2010, Baidu was the most used search engine in China, and it also got the title of “Google of China”. The company has partnered with big names like Qualcomm, Continental and Bosch. It has also started working in the field of AI. The company has also launched a self-driving vehicle platform under its Apollo project (Apolong).

Along with hosting the biggest search engine in China, Baidu offers over fifty internet-related services as well as artificial intelligence-based products to its users.

Baidu is one innovative product that helped Li to fight with his circumstances. Today, Li is one of the richest men in China and ranks at number eight with $16.5 billion’s net worth. He has been awarded great accolades, including “15 Asian Scientists To Watch” by Asian Scientist Magazine in 2011, “Most Influential Business Leader in China” by Fortune, and “World’s Best Business Leader” by the American Business Weekly in 2006.