Robin Li sent Baidu's internal letter: Wen Xin's words will be integrated into all Baidu's core businesses

Beijing time on February 22, this afternoon, Baidu released its unaudited financial reports for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022. In 2022, Baidu achieved revenue of 123.675 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to Baidu (non-GAAP) was 20.68 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10%. In the fourth quarter, Baidu achieved revenue of 33.077 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to Baidu (non-GAAP) was 5.371 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32%. In fiscal 2022, Baidu's core performance exceeded market expectations for four consecutive quarters.

Baidu is about to launch a new generation of big language model "Wenxin Yiyan" in March, which is also another generative AI product of Baidu after Wenxin Yige. After the release of the earnings report, Baidu founder, chairman and CEO Robin Li said in an internal letter, "AI technology has developed to a critical point, and all walks of life are inevitably changed. China's AI market is about to usher in explosive demand growth, and the release of its commercial value will be unprecedented and exponential. Baidu, as the best representative of the long-term growth of the Chinese intelligence market, is standing at the top of the wave. ”

Li Yanhong introduced in his internal letter that Baidu plans to integrate a number of mainstream businesses with Wenxin: the integration of Wenxin and search will lead the generational transformation of search experience; Wen Xin will provide services through Baidu Intelligent Cloud, fundamentally changing the rules of the game in the cloud computing market; In addition, the Wen Xin Yiyan model will also be equipped with Apollo intelligent cabin series products and integrated with Xiaodu.

The following is the full text of the internal letter:

Dear Baidu students,

Today, Baidu released its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022. In 2022, Baidu achieved revenue of 123.675 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to Baidu (non-GAAP) was 20.68 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10%. In the fourth quarter, Baidu achieved revenue of 33.077 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to Baidu (non-GAAP) was 5.371 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32%. In fiscal 2022, Baidu's core performance exceeded market expectations for four consecutive quarters. In the difficult market environment, we worked hard to improve the health of our operations, and achieved year-on-year improvement in operating profit and margin. We have also built a more efficient organization through organizational restructuring and management restructuring.

In the fourth quarter, Baidu Intelligent Cloud used AI technology to provide standardized solutions for the industry and improve profit margins. In 2022, with the advantages of cloud-intelligence integration, Baidu Intelligent Cloud ranked first in the AI cloud service market for four consecutive years. Based on orders with a cumulative contract amount of more than 10 million RMB, our intelligent transportation solutions have been adopted by 69 cities and played a key role in alleviating congestion and ensuring smooth congestion in landing cities. During the Spring Festival in 2023, Baoding, Zhuzhou, Yangquan, Chongqing and other cities will have a five-year high travel intensity, while traffic efficiency has improved by more than 15%.

In terms of intelligent driving, we see that the global autonomous driving industry is accelerating polarization, and the landing of "unmanned" is a key watershed. Baidu made a breakthrough in fully driverless operations, starting to provide fully driverless travel services in Wuhan and Chongqing, and was approved to conduct fully driverless tests in Beijing. As of the end of January 2023, the cumulative number of orders for Radish Express exceeded 2 million, maintaining its position as the world's largest autonomous driving service provider.

In terms of mobile ecology, Baidu's mobile search queries and information flow distribution both achieved double-digit year-on-year growth. Baidu demonstrates the responsibility and value of an information service platform. After the liberalization of epidemic prevention policies, we quickly mobilized resources and launched the epidemic index to update the situation in China in real time, so that users can obtain accurate and authoritative information at critical moments. In December 2022, the number of monthly active users of Baidu App reached 648 million, a year-on-year increase of 4%. In addition, Xiaodu ranked first in China's smart screen and smart speaker shipments in the first nine months of 2022.

As we all know, we are about to launch Baidu's new generation of big language model "Wenxin Yiyan" in March, which is also another generative AI product of Baidu after Wenxin Yige. After Baidu's official announcement, a Chinese science fiction writer came to ask whether Wen Xin's words could improve his creative efficiency and make his science fiction more imaginative. A large number of media, customers, and partners announced as soon as possible that they would access Wen Xin's words. This is trust, expectation, and responsibility. At this moment, many of our classmates are waiting for the day and sprinting with all their might.

Today, everyone is talking about the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence. The emergence of generative AI and the intelligence of large models is a new opportunity brought by a new computing paradigm. This means that AI technology has reached a tipping point, and all walks of life are inevitably changed. China's AI market is about to usher in explosive demand growth, and the release of its commercial value will be unprecedented and exponential. Baidu, as the best representative of the long-term growth of the Chinese intelligence market, is standing at the top of the wave.

Mankind has entered the era of artificial intelligence, and the technology stack of IT technology has undergone fundamental changes. In the past, it was basically divided into three layers: chip layer, operating system layer and application layer. It can now be divided into four layers: chip layer, frame layer, model layer, and application layer. Baidu is one of the few artificial intelligence companies in the world that carries out full-stack layout, from high-end chip Kunlun chip, to flying paddle deep learning framework, to Wenxin pre-training large model, all levels have industry-leading key self-developed technologies, which can achieve end-to-end optimization and greatly improve efficiency.

We plan to integrate a number of mainstream businesses with Wen Xin. The integration of Wen Xin and search will lead the generational transformation of the search experience. In addition to providing better search and answers, we will also provide new interaction and chat experiences, as well as unique generated content, which greatly enriches the content ecology and supply, attracts more users, and has the opportunity to form new traffic entrances. Wen Xin will also provide services through Baidu Intelligent Cloud. Before choosing a cloud vendor, more attention was paid to basic cloud services such as computing power and storage. In the future, more will look at whether the framework is good, whether the model is good or not, and the collaboration between the model, the framework, the chip, and the application. This will fundamentally change the rules of the game in the cloud computing market. Wen Xin's big model is equipped with Apollo intelligent cabin series products, which will make smart cars have a leading generation of human-car interaction experience. The integration of Wen Xin Yiyan with Xiaodu will significantly improve the experience of Xiaodu and users in multiple rounds of dialogue, making them more intelligent and understanding. Xiaodu will become a more versatile intelligent assistant around users.

In recent years, I have been telling my classmates about difficulties and challenges, so that when the opportunity comes, we can seize the opportunity and innovate bravely. Because only innovation can drive growth. Let us keep in mind our mission, "use technology to make the complex world simpler", insist on doing the right thing, help realize the ultimate ideal of artificial intelligence, and "bring more freedom and possibilities to mankind". Students, are you ready?