Baidu Posts Record Revenue Decline as Ad Business Falters
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Baidu Inc. reported its biggest quarterly revenue decline on record and an unexpected net loss as advertising demand remained weak, casting a shadow over the Chinese tech giant’s investments artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous driving and semiconductors.
The company’s third-quarter revenue fell 7.1% from a year earlier to 31.2 billion yuan as earnings from online advertising, a pillar of its core business, dropped 18% year-on-year to 15.3 billion yuan, according to its latest financial report released Tuesday. Its net loss for the quarter was 11.2 billion yuan, a U-turn from a profit of 7.6 billion yuan a year ago.
The revenue decline came as Baidu has increased investments in AI, robotaxis and chips, which the company sees as key drivers of its future growth.
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- Baidu's Q3 revenue fell 7.1% year-on-year to 31.2 billion yuan, with an 18% drop in advertising revenue and a net loss of 11.2 billion yuan.
- AI cloud revenue rose 33% to 4.2 billion yuan; AI applications and AI-native marketing services increased by 6% and 262% year-on-year, respectively.
- Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxi completed 3.1 million rides (up 212% YoY), and new AI chip launches are planned for 2026–2027.
- Baidu Inc.
- Baidu Inc. experienced a record quarterly revenue decline and unexpected net loss due to weak advertising demand. Despite this, the company continues to invest heavily in AI, autonomous driving, and semiconductors, which it views as crucial for future growth. Baidu's AI-related businesses are diverse, ranging from cloud infrastructure to marketing services, and the company is also developing its own AI chips. Their robotaxi platform, Apollo Go, showed significant growth in rides.
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