This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers hours before appearing on Business Insider. To be the first to know, please click here. Chinese internet search giant Baidu credited its solid revenue growth in Q4 2017 to its mobile and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses, according to the company's earnings report. Revenue for the quarter jumped 29% year-over-year (YoY) to reach 23.6 billion yuan ($3.7 billion). In 2017, Baidu refined its focus and began restructuring its resources, shifting them from less profitable ventures to emerging segments such as AI, big data, cloud, and mobile, according to Baidu CEO Robin Yanhong Li. These efforts will help the search giant attain its goal of becoming an AI-first company. Over the past year, the company has padded its AI ambitions with partnerships, and device and software launches: Baidu’s transition to an AI-first company will significantly enhance the company’s core services in the future. By leveraging AI, Baidu will be able to roll out updates and new features to its services more quickly while also adding a level of personalization. For instance, AI has helped to grow the company’s twin-engine search and feed by leveraging user data across 20+ Baidu apps. Baidu is also capitalizing on its extensive AI capabilities to create a new text-to-speech version of its Baidu app, according to Baidu COO Qi Lu. Artificial intelligence (AI) isn't a part of the future of technology. AI is the future of technology. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have even publicly debated whether or not that will turn out to be a good thing. Voice assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa have become more and more prominent in our lives, and that will only increase as they learn more skills. These voice assistants are set to explode as more devices powered by AI enter the market. Most of the major technology players have some sort of smart home hub, usually in the form of a smart speaker. These speakers, like the Amazon Echo or Apple HomePod, are capable of communicating with a majority of WiFi-enabled devices throughout the home. While AI is having an enormous impact on individuals and the smart home, perhaps its largest impact can be felt in the e-commerce space. In the increasingly cluttered e-commerce space, personalization is one of the key differentiators retailers can turn towards to stand out to consumers. In fact, retailers that have implemented personalization strategies see sales gains of 6-10%, at a rate two to three times faster than other retailers, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group. This can be accomplished by leveraging machine learning technology to sift through customer data to present the relevant information in front of that consumer as soon as they hit the page. With hundreds of hours of research condensed into three in-depth reports, Business Insider Intelligence is here to help get you caught up on what you need to know on how AI is disrupting your business or your life. You can find more details on the three reports that make up the AI Disruption Bundle, including proprietary insights from the 18,000-member BI Insiders Panel, by clicking here.
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg may be unsure about the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI), but Chinese search giant Baidu credits the technology with its impressive Q4 2017 growth. The firm said revenue for the period rose 29% year on year to CNY23.6bn ($3.7bn), thanks also to growth in its mobile business, and it expects more success, thanks to canny partnerships with tech firms Huawei and Xiaomi. Baidu has also developed more than 130 partnerships for its conversational AI system DuerOS 2.0. Last year, Baidu reallocated resources from less-successful units in its bid to become an AI-first company.