Baidu’s Stronger-Than-Expected Outlook Validates AI Push

“The internet giant has over the years sunk billions of dollars into areas from language learning to voice interaction and autonomous driving, betting on smart devices and vehicles of the future. Now, aided by years of investment and Beijing’s bid to build smart nationwide infrastructure, these efforts are finally paying off.
Sales last quarter rose 4.8%, the fastest pace in 2020, fueled by a 52% increase in its non-advertising businesses like AI cloud.”