- With widespread applications, Baidu's AI technologies aim to
give way to the "Intelligence of Everything"
- Apollo demonstrates Fully Automated Driving and unveils the
5G Remote Driving Service, while Xiaodu launches smart earbuds
backed by the upgraded DuerOS 6.0
- The latest Baidu Brain 6.0 is powering the new Duxiaoxiao
virtual assistant app as part of an enhanced Baidu mobile
ecosystem
BEIJING, Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc.
(NASDAQ: BIDU) today hosted Baidu World 2020, its annual flagship
technology conference, where the company unveiled new smart
products and AI upgrades, and demonstrated how its
cutting-edge AI technologies are transforming industries and
improving people's everyday lives. With the theme "Intelligence of
Everything", the conference was held online in partnership with
CCTV and livestreamed over Baidu App to users, developers,
partners, media, and investors.
"The next ten years will be the era of the intelligent economy,
as AI brings transformative changes to every industry," said
Robin Li, Co-founder, Chairman, and
CEO of Baidu, in his speech at the conference. "The intelligent
transformation of industry will bring convenience to people's lives
and promote economic development."
Baidu is at the forefront of building the intelligent economy,
with its suite of AI technologies already being applied across
industries and life scenarios, as was highlighted at Baidu World
2020. Baidu Apollo, the world's largest autonomous driving open
platform, demonstrated Fully Automated Driving in a livestream and
unveiled the cutting-edge 5G Remote Driving Service. Baidu launched
DuerOS 6.0, the latest version of its conversational AI system, as
well as XiaoduPods, true wireless smart earbuds that represent
Baidu's first portable consumer electronics product. The Baidu
Mobile Ecosystem Group (MEG) released the innovative virtual
assistant app Duxiaoxiao as part of its strategy to offer
personalized services through mobile platforms, while Robin Li conversed with lifelike virtual persons
on stage. The company also announced that AI open platform Baidu
Brain has been upgraded to version 6.0 and will continue serving as
a pillar of "new infrastructure" that supports the intelligent
transformation of industry.
Apollo Makes Key Breakthroughs in Autonomous Driving
Technology
At Baidu World 2020, Apollo showcased Fully Automated
Driving—autonomous driving without a backup driver in the vehicle—a
breakthrough resulting from seven years of continuous innovation
that will accelerate the large-scale deployment and
commercialization of autonomous driving technology. Zhenyu Li, Corporate Vice President of Baidu and
General Manager of Intelligent Driving Group (IDG), demonstrated
the capability through a livestream from Beijing's Shougang Park, where he accompanied
CCTV anchor Xiaofeng Bao on a drive
in an unmanned robotaxi.
Zhenyu Li outlined that Fully
Automated Driving has three core components, and Apollo has made
significant advancements in all three. The first is an "experienced
AI driver", referring to an autonomous driving system that can
independently operate without a backup driver in the vehicle.
Through six million kilometers of road testing and having carried
100,000 passengers across 27 cities, with a record low of zero
accidents, Apollo has successfully trained its autonomous driving
system to operate an unmanned vehicle.
The second core component is the 5G Remote Driving Service which
Apollo unveiled at Baidu World 2020 for the first time. Based on
smart transportation systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X)
technologies, and high-speed 5G networks, the 5G Remote Driving
Service allows human operators to remotely control vehicles in the
case of emergencies.
The last component is pre-installed and mass-produced autonomous
vehicles, which offer better safety performance than modified
vehicles. Apollo has released its fifth-generation autonomous
driving kit, and the first Apollo pre-installed and mass-produced
vehicles that meet requirements for unmanned operations will be
launched soon. Moreover, car-maker Weltmeister will launch a new
model in 2021 equipped with Apollo's L4 autonomous valet parking
technology, allowing people to park and summon the vehicle
autonomously. In addition to these technological advancements and
key steps towards the commercialization of autonomous driving,
Apollo has inked several strategic cooperation agreements with
Chongqing, Hefei, and Yangquan over the past half year,
making Baidu the leader and driving force of smart transportation
infrastructure development in China.
DuerOS 6.0 Breaks Boundaries with XiaoduPods Launch
During the conference, Baidu announced the upgrade of DuerOS,
its conversational AI system, to version 6.0. As the largest system
of its kind in China, DuerOS
receives over 5.8 billion monthly voice queries, and has more than
40,000 developers and over 4,000 skills. Kun Jing, Corporate Vice President of Baidu
and General Manager of Smart Living Group (SLG), said that DuerOS
is already deployed in a wide range of scenarios through the Xiaodu
AI voice assistant, including in homes, hotels, and cars. The
upgrade to DuerOS 6.0 aligns with the "break boundaries" strategy,
as it will allow DuerOS to power even more applications and fulfill
even more user needs.
In line with that strategy, Baidu launched XiaoduPods at the
conference. The first portable product in the Xiaodu lineup,
XiaoduPods are true wireless smart earbuds powered by DuerOS 6.0,
offering voice-controlled search, navigation, calling, and music
functions. XiaoduPods also feature the cutting-edge "Wandering
Earth" mode, which provides real-time translation between one user
speaking Chinese and another user speaking English. Bringing the
power of AI to users wherever they go, XiaoduPods will retail at
first for only RMB 199.
Baidu World 2020 demonstrated the various transformative
applications of voice assistant technology. At the CCTV studio,
Robin Li and news anchor
Hui Kang chatted naturally with
Xiaodu about ordinary household subjects, and also spoke with
people at Beijing's Guofengmeitang
Community, where about 200 elderly households have been outfitted
with Xiaodu smart displays providing entertainment and health
services. Kun Jing, speaking from
the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland hotel, showed how Xiaodu
devices can be installed to make smart hotel rooms that deliver a
better experience to users and benefit the hospitality
industry.
AI-Powered Mobile Services
As AI changes people's lives, it is also improving the way
people find information and access services. In line with these
broad changes, Baidu launched the Duxiaoxiao virtual assistant app,
an innovative search product based on DuerOS. Duxiaoxiao not only
provides users with a range of information and services, users can
also directly converse with the app to help solve everyday life
questions. Over time, the app will change to suit each user's needs
based on their habits. Leveraging the power of AI, Baidu App has
already changed from a simple search tool into a robust "super app"
that provides a wide-range of personalized services to the over 230
million daily active users (DAUs) of the app and the roughly 500
million monthly active users (MAUs) of its Smart Mini Programs.
Baidu App has also been serving as the exclusive partner for the
naming process of China's first
Mars rover. The final 10 candidates were released at Baidu World
2020, which included the Xiaodu-generated idea "Zhuque" (Vermillion
Bird), a Chinese mythical bird.
Baidu Brain Upgraded to 6.0
Baidu CTO Haifeng Wang released
the upgraded Baidu Brain 6.0, which has become a key form of "new
infrastructure" by supporting AI industrial applications and Baidu
Cloud. As one of the largest AI open platforms, Baidu Brain has
already opened more than 270 core AI capabilities for 2.3 million
developers, becoming a key driver of the intelligent transformation
of a wide range of industries. Deep learning platform
PaddlePaddle's recent API (Application Programming Interface)
upgrade allows developers to build and deploy models more
efficiently, while the next-generation of Baidu's self-developed AI
chip Kunlun has significantly higher performance and is soon to be
launched.
Baidu Brain 6.0 is also the driving force behind Baidu's
development of virtual persons. At Baidu World 2020, two virtual
persons modelled after younger versions of Robin Li and Hui
Kang in appearance, movements, and voice were unveiled and
came on stage to talk with their human counterparts.
About Baidu
Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search
provider. Baidu aims to make the complicated world simpler for
users and enterprises through technology. Baidu's ADSs trade on the
NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU." Currently, ten
ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.
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SOURCE Baidu, Inc.