History and Early Development
– Baidu was incorporated in January 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu.
– Baidu has origins in RankDex, an earlier search engine developed by Robin Li in 1996.
– Baidu went public on Wall Street through a variable interest entity (VIE) based in the Cayman Islands in 2005.
– In 2012, Baidu partnered with Sina to provide mobile search results.
– Robin Li joined IDD Information Services in 1994 and helped develop software for the online edition of The Wall Street Journal.
– Li developed the RankDex site-scoring algorithm for search engine results page ranking in 1996.
– RankDex was the first search engine to use hyperlinks to measure the quality of websites.
– In 2001, Baidu allowed advertisers to bid for ad space and pay per click.
Services
– Baidu offers a Chinese search engine.
– Baidu offers a mapping service called Baidu Maps.
– Baidu offers various search and community services, such as Baidu Baike (an online encyclopedia) and Baidu Tieba (a keyword-based discussion forum).
– Baidu offers a cloud storage service called Baidu Wangpan.
– Baidu Global Business Unit (GBU) is responsible for Baidu’s international products and services.
Partnerships and Acquisitions
– In 2014, Baidu launched a Brazilian version of the search engine, Baidu Busca.
– Baidu announced the acquisition of Brazilian local e-commerce site Peixe Urbano in 2014.
– In 2017, Baidu partnered with Continental and Bosch on automated driving and connected cars.
– Baidu entered into a partnership with Snap Inc. to act as the company’s official ad reseller for Snapchat in 2017.
– Baidu divested the Global DU business portion of its overseas business in 2018.
Milestones and Achievements
– Baidu became the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index in 2007.
– Baidu’s market cap rose to US$99 billion in May 2018.
– Baidu became the first Chinese firm to join the United States-based computer ethics consortium Partnership on AI in 2018.
– Baidu launched a self-driving vehicle platform called Apollo in 2017.
– Baidu unveiled a new Robocar concept capable of Level 5 autonomous driving in 2021.
Baidu Cyber Attack, Baidu Workers Arrested, and Register.com Lawsuit Settlement
– Baidu experienced a cyber attack where browsers were redirected to a website claiming to be the Iranian Cyber Army.
– Chinese hackers retaliated by attacking Iranian websites.
– Baidu filed a lawsuit against Register.com for negligence in changing Baidu’s email address without proper security verification.
– Three Baidu employees were arrested for accepting bribes and deleting posts from the forum service.
– Baidu announced its intention to purchase 91 Wireless from NetDragon, which faced privacy and legal issues.
– Baidu settled the lawsuit against Register.com out of court, with undisclosed terms, and Register.com issued an apology as part of the settlement.
Baidu, Inc. (/ˈbaɪduː/ BY-doo; Chinese: 百 度; pinyin: Bǎidù, meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services, products, and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the largest AI and Internet companies in the world. The holding company of the group is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Baidu was incorporated in January 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu. Baidu has origins in RankDex, an earlier search engine developed by Robin Li in 1996, before he founded Baidu in 2000.
 | |
.jpg) Corporate headquarters | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: BIDU SEHK: 9888 | |
| Industry | Internet Artificial intelligence Cloud computing |
| Founded | January 18, 2000 |
| Founder | Robin Li Eric Xu |
| Headquarters | , China |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Robin Li (co-founder & CEO) |
| Products | |
| Revenue |  CN¥ 124.493 billion (2021) |
 CN¥10.518 billion (2021) | |
| CN¥10.226 billion (2021) | |
| Total assets | CN¥380.034 billion (2021) |
| Total equity | CN¥156.082 billion (2021) |
Number of employees | 45,500 (2021) |
| Website | www |
| Baidu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 百度 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Baidu offers various services, including a Chinese search engine, as well as a mapping service called Baidu Maps. Baidu offers about 57 search and community services, such as Baidu Baike (an online encyclopedia), Baidu Wangpan (a cloud storage service), and Baidu Tieba (a keyword-based discussion forum).
Baidu Global Business Unit (GBU) is responsible for Baidu's international products and services for markets outside of China. Baidu GBU's product portfolio includes keyboard apps Simeji and Facemoji Keyboard, content recommendation platform popIn, augmented reality network OmniAR, Japanese smart projector popIn Aladdin, and ad platform MediaGo, which is focused on Chinese advertisers looking to reach overseas users. In 2017, Baidu GBU entered into a partnership with Snap Inc. to act as the company's official ad reseller for Snapchat in Greater China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore. The partnership was extended in 2019.
In 2018, Baidu divested the "Global DU business" portion of its overseas business, which developed a series of utility apps including ES File Explorer, DU Caller, Mobojoy, Photo Wonder and DU Recorder, etc. This business now operates independently of Baidu under the name DO Global.
In December 2007, Baidu became the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index. As of May 2018, Baidu's market cap rose to US$99 billion. In October 2018, Baidu became the first Chinese firm to join the United States-based computer ethics consortium Partnership on AI.
