Baidu is China's largest internet search company and one of its most significant AI platform operators. The company operates search, mapping, autonomous driving, and cloud services, and has been developing large language model capabilities for years. Baidu's AI platform spans consumer-facing applications, enterprise cloud services, and the custom silicon used to run AI inference at scale.

ERNIE Bot—China's most widely adopted AI assistant—surpassed 300M users by mid-2025, generating revenue through consumer subscriptions and enterprise API access. ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1, a reasoning-focused model, launched in 2025. AI cloud services have grown double-digit YoY. Baidu also ships its own Kunlun AI inference chip, providing a domestically sourced alternative for inference workloads that would otherwise require Nvidia or AMD hardware.

Baidu's efficiency comes from vertical integration—from the model itself to the cloud infrastructure to the chip running that infrastructure. The Kunlun chip program reduces Baidu's dependence on imported silicon for its own AI operations, and the model and cloud businesses give Baidu direct participation in China's AI application market as both a builder and an infrastructure provider.