Baidu Inc., founded in 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu, is China's leading search engine and AI company. This timeline traces its corporate journey from inception to modern era, highlighting key products, acquisitions, financial milestones, and regulatory challenges.
Robin Li and Eric Xu found Baidu in Beijing, China, with initial funding from venture capital. The name Baidu is derived from a Song Dynasty poem. #corporate
Baidu launches its own Chinese-language search engine, baidu.com, competing with Google and local rivals. It quickly gains popularity for its localized results. #technology
Baidu introduces a pay-per-click advertising model, allowing businesses to bid on keywords. This becomes the primary revenue driver. #advertising
Baidu goes public on the NASDAQ under the ticker BIDU, raising $109 million. The stock price surges over 350% on the first day, making it one of the best IPO performances. #finance
Baidu launches Baidu Baike, a Chinese-language collaborative encyclopedia similar to Wikipedia. It becomes a major content platform. #products
Baidu launches Baidu Zhidao, a community-driven Q&A platform, which becomes hugely popular in China. #products
Baidu releases Baidu Maps, a web mapping service that competes with Google Maps in China. It later adds navigation and real-time traffic. #technology
Baidu launches a mobile search app to capture the growing smartphone market. This becomes a key platform for mobile advertising. #mobile
Baidu is hit by a massive DDoS attack, the largest in history at that time, causing service disruptions. The company quickly recovers and improves security. #security
Google moves its search engine from mainland China to Hong Kong after censorship disputes. Baidu becomes the dominant search engine in China, gaining market share. #competition
Baidu releases Baidu Yi, an Android-based mobile operating system for local smartphones. It includes deep integration of Baidu services. #technology
Baidu acquires the online video platform iQiyi (initially Qiyi), investing heavily in video streaming. iQiyi later becomes a major Netflix-like service. #acquisition
Baidu enters the cloud storage market with Baidu Wangpan, offering free and paid cloud storage to users. #cloud
Baidu acquires 91 Wireless, a major Android app store, for $1.9 billion, the largest internet acquisition in China at the time. #acquisition
Baidu introduces Baidu Wallet, a mobile payment service to compete with Alipay and WeChat Pay. #fintech
Baidu launches Baidu CarLife, a smartphone integration platform for cars, marking its entry into the automotive tech sector. #automotive
Baidu invests $600 million in Uber China, forming a strategic partnership. The investment is later transferred to Didi Chuxing after Uber China merges with Didi. #investment
Baidu unveils Baidu Brain, an AI platform for deep learning research, including natural language processing and image recognition. #AI
Baidu reorganizes, creating Baidu Global to oversee international expansions and spin off iQiyi. #corporate
Baidu partners with Microsoft to use cloud services and AI for content moderation. #partnership
Qi Lu, former Microsoft executive, joins Baidu as COO and later becomes Vice Chairman, leading AI initiatives. #leadership
Baidu announces Apollo, an open-source autonomous driving platform, providing software and hardware solutions for developers. #autonomous )
Baidu launches DuerOS, a voice-activated assistant platform for smart devices, competing with Amazon Alexa. #AI
iQiyi files for IPO on the Nasdaq, raising $2.3 billion. Baidu remains the majority shareholder. #finance
Baidu launches its integrated cloud computing services, Baidu Smart Cloud, targeting enterprise customers. #cloud
Baidu introduces ERNIE (Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration), a pre-trained language model achieving state-of-the-art results on various NLP tasks. #AI )
Baidu posts its first quarterly loss as a public company due to investments in content and AI, plus ad market slowdown. #finance
At a Baidu AI conference, a man throws water on Robin Li, who reacts calmly. The incident goes viral. #corporate
Baidu partners with Geely to form Jidu Auto, an electric vehicle company, investing over $1.4 billion over 10 years. #EV
Baidu receives permission to test autonomous taxis in Beijing, expanding its Apollo Go robotaxi service. #autonomous )
Baidu completes a secondary listing in Hong Kong, raising $3.1 billion. The stock price rises modestly on debut. #finance
Baidu releases ERNIE 3.0, a 10-billion-parameter language model, further advancing AI capabilities. #AI
China launches antitrust actions against tech firms. Baidu's shares drop due to regulatory tightening on data security and monopolistic practices. #regulation
Baidu reports first revenue decline in years due to COVID-19 lockdowns and ad market weakness. #finance
Baidu unveils Ernie Bot, a ChatGPT-like conversational AI, initially in a limited beta release. It receives mixed reviews. #AI
Baidu's Apollo Go launches fully driverless robotaxi service in Wuhan, covering large areas. #autonomous
Baidu beats earnings estimates driven by AI cloud growth, with Ernie Bot contributing to revenue. #finance
The US restricts exports of advanced AI chips to China, affecting Baidu's access to hardware for AI development. #regulation
Baidu authorizes a $5 billion share repurchase program to boost investor confidence amid regulatory challenges. #finance
Baidu releases Ernie 4.0 Turbo, a faster and more capable AI model, competing with GPT-4. #AI
Baidu and BYD collaborate to integrate Apollo autonomous driving technology into BYD's electric vehicles. #partnership
Baidu's AI cloud revenue grows 30% year-over-year, becoming a key growth driver. #finance