Baidu reports soaring net profit, burgeoning AI development in 2023

A visitor learns about an app from Baidu during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2023 in Shanghai, east China, July 6, 2023. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tech giant Baidu posted better-than-expected financial performance in its latest financial report, with the non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) net income in 2023 up 39 percent year on year.

In 2023, the company's non-GAAP net income topped 28.7 billion yuan (about 4.04 billion U.S. dollars) and its total revenues reached approximately 134.6 billion yuan, said the report.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the company also saw its non-GAAP net income soar by 44 percent year on year to a total of more than 7.75 billion yuan.

Baidu's unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and the whole fiscal year of 2023 were released on Wednesday.

Artificial intelligence (AI) was Baidu's major new growth engine during the period. The financial report highlighted a series of AI applications and AI marketing tools, including its AI chatbot service ERNIE Bot.

The tech giant will continue its efforts to invest in and develop the Gen-AI and foundation models in order to better fuel the new growth engine, according to Baidu chairman and CEO Robin Li.