Baidu’s Ernie Bot is coming to cars, China has 170 million companies, Global sales of Chinese games declined in 2022

Baidu’s Ernie Bot is coming to cars: At an event in Beijing earlier today, automotive robotics startup Jidu 集度汽车 announced that its new car robot will integrate Baidu’s AI chatbot Ernie Bot to create the world’s first AI interactive car experience.

Jidu, a Baidu-Geely joint venture, is releasing two electric vehicle (EV) models this year, the Robo-01 sedan and the Robo-02 SUV, which will be “robot cars” that allow drivers to open doors via voice command or smartphone connection, and offer Level 4 autonomous driving which means the cars promise to be able to drive themselves with no human guidance.

China has 170 million companies: According to the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), as of January 2023, the total of 170 million market entities in China includes 114 million “household enterprises” run by individuals or families that employ 300 million people.

On November 1 2022, new regulations came into force to optimize government support and services for household enterprises.

Global sales of Chinese games declined in 2022: Per a report released at the annual China game industry conference took place yesterday in Guangzhou, 2022 sales revenue of Chinese games in overseas markets decreased for the first time since 2018, reaching $17.34 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7%. However, the global game market declined as a whole, reaching 1.11 trillion ($162.72 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 6.96%.

In the first half of 2022, China’s game industry for the first time recorded a double drop of negative revenue growth and a decrease in users.