Baidu, Inc. and Huawei have announced a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement that spans from artificial intelligence (AI) platforms and technology, to internet services and content ecosystems. The two companies aim to cultivate an open mobile and AI ecosystem built on shared success, while spurring the development of new AI applications and providing global consumers with AI that “knows you better.”
Baidu and Huawei plan to build an open ecosystem using Huawei’s HiAI platform and Baidu Brain, a compendium of the company’s AI assets and services. The open ecosystem will leverage Huawei’s Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU) and Baidu’s PaddlePaddle deep learning framework to empower AI developers, and provide consumers with a broad range of AI offerings and new smart service experiences. The two companies will work together on voice and image recognition for smart devices to enable more seamless human-machine interaction. They will also jointly build an augmented reality (AR) ecosystem, combining hardware and software to create a more immersive and accessible AR experience for everyday consumers.
Regarding internet services and content ecosystems, the companies will strengthen cooperation in areas such as search and feed to bring consumers a wealth of quality content with a more intuitive and convenient service experience.
Baidu is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. Baidu’s strategy is focused on two core pillars: strengthening its mobile foundation and leading in AI. Baidu is using AI to elevate its current core business, and in parallel, building out new AI-enabled initiatives through an open platform and ecosystem approach.
Huawei is the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. With a strong belief in the importance of customer-centricity, Huawei is actively exploring the future of smart technologies to help improve people’s digital experience, which includes innovation in the 5G, AI, AR, virtual reality (VR), and other related domains. In 2017, Huawei released the Mate 10, the world’s first smartphone powered by an embedded AI chipset, the Kirin 970. Huawei has been actively building the HiAI ecosystem based on these chips.
After a decade of rapid progress, the mobile phone industry has reached a critical point in its development and the next generation of smartphones is about to be born. Interactive technologies including voice, machine vision, AR and VR will drive the upgrade of the mobile phone industry. Originally developed to be personal tools, mobile phones will become a natural extension of humans and an everyday AI assistant for consumers. At this important time for the industry, Huawei and Baidu will continue to prioritize consumers and leverage both sides’ strengths to form a mutually beneficial, open and in-depth strategic cooperation.
AI is driving a new round of industry transformation. In-depth strategic cooperation between Baidu and Huawei will open up more possibilities for the development of AI and other technologies. It will help lay the foundation for a sustainable mobile and AI ecosystem, so that future technology can better understand users, better serve people, and promote better economic and social outcomes around the world.
