SHENZHEN, China - Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU). (NASDAQ:BIDU and HKEX:9888), a prominent AI and internet company, announced the launch of its second ERNIE Cup Innovation Challenge. The competition invites global AI entrepreneurs to develop applications using Baidu's ERNIE foundation model. With a prize pool of up to RMB 50 million in funds and resources, the challenge seeks to foster the growth of AI-native applications.
The announcement was made yesterday at the Create 2024 Baidu AI Developer Conference by Robin Li, Baidu's Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO. The ERNIE Cup aims to offer strategic investments, business resources, and media exposure to support entrepreneurial teams. The competition, which is now open for registration until May 15, 2024, will also provide technical guidance and ecosystem support from Baidu's AI experts and top investors.
In its inaugural year, the ERNIE Cup attracted nearly 1,000 team registrations, with Baidu investing nearly RMB 100 million in the 15 winning teams. This year, the scope of project selection has been expanded, and the company has introduced sub-venues to increase entrepreneur support.
The top three teams will be awarded RMB 10 million, RMB 5 million, and RMB 2 million, respectively. A new "Special Prize" has been added, offering an exceptional funding opportunity for the winning team. Additionally, the ERNIE Cup now includes a YOUNG competition for university students, with a separate prize pool and mentoring opportunities to discover future AI talent.
Baidu's commitment to AI has led to a thriving ecosystem, with its ERNIE Bot reaching 200 million users and the ERNIE API handling 200 million daily queries. Their deep learning framework, PaddlePaddle, has attracted a significant developer and enterprise user base, further establishing Baidu's position in AI development.
This news is based on a press release statement from Baidu, Inc.,
InvestingPro Insights
As Baidu Inc. (HKEX:9888) continues to foster innovation in the AI space with initiatives like the ERNIE Cup Innovation Challenge, it's worth noting the company's financial standing through key metrics from InvestingPro. Baidu is currently trading at a low earnings multiple, with a P/E Ratio of 6.93 and an adjusted P/E Ratio for the last twelve months as of Q3 2024 at 6.88, suggesting that the company's shares might be undervalued relative to its earnings. Additionally, Baidu has maintained a consistent track record of dividend payments, having done so for 24 consecutive years, with a current dividend yield of 4.8% as of the latest data.
One of the key InvestingPro Tips for Baidu is its status as a prominent player in the Trading Companies & Distributors industry, which aligns with its strategic investments in AI-native applications through competitions like the ERNIE Cup. Moreover, Baidu's revenue growth has shown resilience with a slight increase of 0.86% over the last twelve months as of Q3 2024, despite a quarterly dip of -1.64%. This indicates a stable financial backdrop against which Baidu is driving its AI initiatives.
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