百度业务模式将转向人工智能
The head of Baidu Inc has pledged to shift the company's business from a search-oriented model to one based on artificial intelligence.
百度公司董事长承诺，公司的业务模式将从搜索导向模式转变为人工智能基础模式。
Baidu CEO Li Yanhong said in an internal letter on Tuesday that the shift will allow the company to develop such areas as voice search, automatic translation and driverless vehicles.
Li, who is a co-founder of Baidu, which runs China's largest online search engine, also vowed to emphasize user experience over income and to set up a department to root out any behavior that might damage user experience.
"The department will have the final say to veto any behavior that is not in line with a good user experience," Li said in the letter, which Baidu made public later on Tuesday. "Some of the measures we take may have a negative impact on the company's income. But I believe it is the right thing to do."
Analysts said the move is expected to dampen Baidu's near-term profitability, which in turn would make it more challenging for the company's new business initiative to gain momentum.