Baidu today announced that its Ernie AI assistant has reached 200 million monthly active users, a milestone driven by deep integration within the Baidu search-engine app on mobile devices and its desktop client. Since launching public beta features in late 2023, Ernie’s user base has expanded at an average monthly growth rate of 15%. The assistant now handles over 5 billion queries per month, covering tasks from natural language searches to document summarization. Management projects that AI-powered services could contribute up to 10% of Baidu’s overall revenue by year-end, up from 4% in the prior fiscal year, as advertising clients increasingly leverage Ernie’s contextual recommendations.

Baidu’s autonomous driving arm, Apollo Go, commenced commercial robotaxi operations in Abu Dhabi over the weekend, deploying a fleet of 25 driverless SUVs across key business districts. This marks the company’s first fully unmanned service outside China, following strategic partnerships with local regulators and tech providers. In response, Baidu’s shares in Hong Kong rose approximately 1% on Monday, reflecting investor optimism about geographic diversification and recurring revenue streams from mobility services. Apollo Go now operates in four global cities and aims to expand to 10 markets by 2027, targeting annual revenue of $500 million from ride-hailing fees and data licensing.