Baidu revenue grows 6% in fourth quarter as AI and advertising boost business

China’s Baidu said fourth-quarter revenue rose 6%, helped by gains from its artificial intelligence applications and a growing advertising business.

For the three months through December, the company reported revenue of 34.95 billion yuan ($4.92 billion), broadly in line with analysts’ average estimate of 34.97 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.

The company’s adjusted net income rose by 44% to 7.76 billion yuan, compared with 5.37 billion yuan for the same period a year earlier, beating analysts’ forecasts for 6.32 billion yuan.

As China’s largest internet search engine, Baidu makes the majority of its revenue from advertising. But as China’s economy slows and consumers spend less, Baidu has increasingly invested in AI. In March last year, it launched its ChatGPT-like ERNIE Bot in bid to capture from the potential of the technology.

The company said ERNIE AI services have already started to contribute to Baidu’s revenues. $Baidu (BIDU.US)$