Big news for Baidu in artificial intelligence and apps
Business & Technology
Top business and technology news for January 17, 2017. Part of the daily The China Project news roundup "Xi Jinping at Davos: China as the new champion of globalization?"
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Microsoft veteran will help run Chinese search giant Baidu / Bloomberg
Chinese tech giant Baidu, known for its Google-like search engine, has been expanding into artificial intelligence (AI) — and giving American competitors a run for their money — for some time now. Its most recent hire of AI specialist Qi Lu from Microsoft as its COO and president is a further indication of where Baidu sees the market heading. Over the weekend, Tech in Asia also reported the unveiling of Baidu’s new lab for augmented reality smartphone research, and MIT Technology Review detailed Baidu’s big plans for AI in 2017. -
China tightens grip on app stores / CNET
“There’s no Google Play Store in China, but there are plenty of imitators. And now, they all have to register with the government,” reports CNET. Baidu and Tencent are among the companies affected, along with at least 410 million users of Android smartphones in the country. The new regulation, which appears to require comprehensive governmental records and self-policing of app stores, is significant largely because it shows the Chinese government following up on months and years of similar steps.
- China’s found a new way to pump record credit without the side effects / Bloomberg
- U.S. concerns grow over Chinese chip expansion / Financial Times (paywall)
- China goes food shopping — to Russia / WSJ (paywall)
- It can power a small nation. But this wind farm in China is mostly idle / NYT (paywall)
